By Bill Britt
Alabama Political Reporter
MONTGOMERY—Storming the Statehouse PAC, led by Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard, raked in only $1000 in campaign contributions for the month of July. Not exactly in line with the promised $10 million he told Young Republicans he had raised back in June.
According the the most recent filing with the Secretary of State, Hubbard’s PAC spent $5000 more than in took in. The beginning balance for July was $290,378.78; Hubbard was able to raise $1000 and had an ending balance of $286,377.78 after paying Chris Hines and Beth Ryan.
Hubbard said he formed Storm PAC to protect his GOP supermajority against “others” and “infiltrators” who will run as Republicans in the 2014 election. The PAC is named after his vanity book, Storming the Statehouse.
To date, the PAC has failed to even break $300,000, much less than the millions Hubbard bragged about in Birmingham.
Alabama 2014 PAC, a coordinated effort of former Governor Bob Riley, Mike Hubbard and Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh, has faired better than Storm PAC, bringing in $23,000 in July. The 2014 PAC had a beginning balance of $1,062,466.78. It ended July with $1,073,249.19, spending almost half of the $23,000 it raised.
Constant givers to Riley’s PAC are former Lieutenant Governor Steve Windom and Kinney Capitol Group, LLC, owned by lobbyists Allison and Phillip Kinney. Other large contributors were G. Mack Dove, Chairman and CEO of AAA Cooper Transportation, Health Care attorney Richard J. Brockman and National Cement of Alabama, Inc.
As of the end of July, Hubbard, Riley and Marsh have less than $1.4 million in Storm PAC and Alabama 2014. Hubbard has stated publicly that he had $10 million for his “incumbent protection business.” Campaign filings indicate that he is about $8.6 million short of his boast.
