Marilyn (And Her Friends) Go Bowling

Did she get a strike? A spare? Will we ever know?

Last week Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R) and six of her friends in Congress filed papers with the U.S. Federal Election Commission (FEC) forming “Bowling for Our Majority Party,” a joint fundraising committee.

These committees are fairly common. Typically, a candidate or group of candidates will join together and throw a joint fundraiser. This way a campaign contributor attending the event can write one check and be assured that it goes to all of the candidates.

Individuals giving to a joint fundraising committee are still subject to federal contribution limits. If I had attended the fundraiser and had already “maxed out” to Musgrave, meaning I had given her $2,100 for her primary and $2,100 to her general race, I couldn’t give her any more money. But I could give cash to all her friends.

Given the name of the committee, it sounds like Musgrave, Rep. Thelma Drake (R-VA), Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH), Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ), Rep. John Sweeney (R-NY)Rep. Curt Weldon (R-PA), and Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE) all went bowling.

Who went with them? We won’t know until October, when candidates must file their next reports with the FEC. Given that the party was probably in D.C.,  I’m going to take a wild and crazy guess and say that there were likely many a lobbyist in attendance.

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