Here’s how you can find out

by Guy Page

This morning, a reader emailed me this question:

“There used to be a list of people or organizations that sent money to each legislator, and this info was available to the public . Do you know if that information is still available ? It would be interesting to see this information again.”

Until recently I had a hard time answering that question. The state’s campaign finance reporting system was, like Lady McBeth’s Hell, murky.

Either that or it I was just too dumb to figure it out.

Whichever. Either way, this old dog finally figured out how to turn the campaign finance report doorknob. Here’s how you open the door to legislator’s campaign finance reports:

1. Click on this link for the Campaign Finance System

2. Click on Search Filed Reports

3. In the box titled Registrant, write the name of your candidate and wait until the space autofills. For example, (no particular reason we picked the Senate Pro Tem) if you type in ‘Baruth’, it should autofill with “Baruth, Philip Edward.” Then….

4. Hit the green Search button. What should pop up in a few seconds is one or more reports. You want the one with the candidate name that says “August 1 2024 disclosures.” State law requires periodic updates, growing more frequent as Election Day approaches.

5. Click on August 1 2024 disclosures and up should pop a PDF form. Scroll down 2-3 pages and you should see something like this:

And if that doesn’t work…. keep trying. I’m fresh out of tricks.