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FIVE THINGS WE DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT 2012 UNTIL LAST NIGHT: We know, we know: 2012 is over, done, in the rear-view mirror. But in the campaign finance world, midnight last night marked a sort of reckoning for 2012 politicos and entities, as it was the FEC’s deadline for filing all year-end campaign finance reports. Now, your humble reporting team was off-the-clock by that hour. But several dedicated reporters were up burning the midnight oil and squeezing every last drop out of the most expensive election in U.S. history. Here’s a quick round-up of what they found.

1. Obama and Democrats finished in the red, while Team Romney kept in the black.

Obama and DNC win, but end year with combined $21.5m in debt. The RNC is debt- free with $4.7m in cash reserves. — Fredreka Schouten (@fschouten) February 1, 2013

If nothing else, Romney campaign efficient about closing out its books. Ended year with $383K cash on hand and just $825K in debt. — Matea Gold (@mateagold) February 1, 2013

That leaves Democrats in the hole going into 2014, while Republicans are in good shape, money-wise.

2. Other GOP presidential hopefuls didn’t fare as well, with most revealing they remain deep in debt.

There’s Newt, who by far is in the deepest hole:

New filing: Newt Gingrich’s presidential committee ends 2012 $4.6M in debt: ow.ly/hj5j2 #politics — Dave Levinthal (@davelevinthal) January 31, 2013

Rick Santorum owes six-figures — and his creditors apparently include this NASCAR Sprint Cup racing team:



Santorum campaign committee was $732K in debt as of 12/31. Creditors include Front Row Motor Sports for car sponsorship ow.ly/hjOef — Dave Levinthal (@davelevinthal) February 1, 2013

Herman Cain finished the year with $450,000 in debt. And that’s less the $1,500-odd his campaign received from, uh, selling furniture to Rib Shack.

I think Friends of Herman Cain sold some office furniture to a rib shack query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/dcdev/… — Aaron Bycoffe (@bycoffe) January 31, 2013

Jon Huntsman, however, used his own personal wealth to pay off his campaign debt, which is certainly one way to do it:

Using personal funds, Republican Jon Huntsman has retired his 2012 presidential campaign debt bit.ly/XowKji — Michael Beckel (@mjbeckel) January 31, 2013

And if you’re keeping track at home, another way to do it would be to raise and spend almost nothing.)

3. The two biggest presidentially-focused super PACs still have plenty of money.

Pro-Obama #superPAC Priorities USA Action ended 2012 w/ $3.7M in the bank bit.ly/WBGh8J — Michael Beckel (@mjbeckel) February 1, 2013

Help us keep government accountable by making a donation today.

Restore Our Future, pro-Romney super PAC, had $1.2 million cash on hand at the end of 2012. WHY? bit.ly/WVOqD4 — PaulBlumenthal (@PaulBlu) January 31, 2013

Paul’s question (“WHY?[???]”) is fair. Expect to hear more from these two groups — or at least from that money — in the future.

4. The NRA and the Brady Campaign both laid low in December.

Here is NRA’s PAC filing for December. Just a few donations federally. bit.ly/XoCNEs — Adam Smith (@asmith83) January 31, 2013 The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence Voter Education Fund PAC had just $2,577 in its account thru 12/31 ow.ly/hj7yD — Dave Levinthal (@davelevinthal) January 31, 2013 Turns out the NRA has a massive stockpile, however — and it’s surely bigger now than this report suggests:



The NRA’s PAC only took in $15K during late Nov. and December, but had $1.37M cash on hand going into 2013. — Dave Levinthal (@davelevinthal) January 31, 2013

5. Mitt Romney had nearly 70 lobbyists bundling about $17 million for him during the 2012 cycle.

Five new lobbyist-bundlers were revealed last night:

5 previously unknown lobbyist-bundlers revealed in Romney Victory Fund’s latest FEC filings bit.ly/11mxxqz #transparency #tcot #p2 — Michael Beckel (@mjbeckel) February 1, 2013 You can read more on Michael’s findings — as well as other nuggets that turned up last night — over at Primary Source. — Evan Mackinder

Images: Budweiser image via Flickr user eytonyz



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