Small-dollar donations from Utah residents, funding from AFL-CIO affiliate unions, and a donation from the middle-of-the-road Blue Dog Democrats in Congress drive Democrat Kathleen Riebe’s campaign for the US House of Representatives.
Riebe’s GOP rival in the Utah 2nd district special election this Tuesday, by contrast, has received less than half of the extremist campaign’s war chest from Beehive State voters.
Big-dollar donations from PACs run by Washington insiders like House Majority Leader Steve Scalise ($21,000 from a PAC and his campaign); House Majority Whip Tom Emmer ($10,000); former U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (also $10,000); and the National Republican Campaign Committee fund Riebe’s right-wing opponent .
Special-interest pressure groups like the Susan B. Anthony List PAC, which backs a national, no exception abortion ban ($5,000); and the National Rifle Association ($1,000) indicate the extremist agenda of the GOP nominee for the Nov. 21 election.
Utah state Senator Riebe, a longtime schoolteacher, has relied on small individual contributions (less than $200) for a full 33.9 percent of her campaign funding. Small-dollar donations to Riebe’s GOP opponent amount to only 3.90 percent of the Republican’s campaign kitty.
The centrist Congressional Blue Dog Democrats, who work effectively for bipartisan solutions, contributed $5,000 to Riebe’s campaign.
Riebe attacked the 2nd district GOP campaign for relying on special-interest PACs and funding from Washington-based MAGA grandees. Riebe added that she’s “proud to run a campaign driven by the grassroots, small-dollar donations of thousands of Utahns. That tells me our message of unity, common sense, and bipartisan progress resonates.”
Several Utah-based AFL-CIO affiliated union locals have endorsed Riebe, providing campaign funds and volunteer activism.
It’s not too late to help Kathleen Riebe win on Nov. 21. Visit her online campaign HQ at www.riebeforutah.com to volunteer or make a donation.
Campaign fund data in this article comes from the Salt Lake Tribune and online records at OpenSecrets.org.