Editorial: Disclose campaign giving promptly
Knowing that a Texas multimillionaire had dumped half a million dollars into a final-weekend ad campaign besmirching DFLer Mike Hatch might not have altered the outcome of last month's gubernatorial election. But Minnesota voters deserved to know about it before they went to the polls on Nov. 7. The secrecy that shrouded Houston homebuilder Bob Perry's gift until last week was made possible by a defect in state campaign laws. The flaw needs correction by the 2007 Legislature.

Cash and carry in Texas
In Texas, public officials may accept gifts of money as long as they disclose who it came from. They do not, however, have to say how much. So says the Texas Ethics Commission, ruling in the case of an official who reported receiving $100,000 from the state's most generous political donor, a Houston homebuilder named Bob Perry....Needless to say, the ethics commission's ruling created a sensation in Texas. Ronnie Earle, the district attorney prosecuting Mr. DeLay, noted that the interpretation could allow a public official to report receiving a wheelbarrow, "without reporting that the wheelbarrow was filled with cash."

Homebuilder Bob Perry nation's biggest political donor
Houston homebuilder Bob Perry was the largest political donor in Texas _ and the nation _ in the recent election cycle, according to a group that tracks campaign donations. Perry spent $6.7 million in statewide and legislative campaigns and $9.3 million on national candidates and committees seeking to elect Republicans to Congress, Texans for Public Justice said in its report. The group supports campaign finance restrictions. The spending produced mixed results: Perry's money backed more losers than winners in state legislative races and nationwide, but the group of Texas statewide candidates he supported won. See more related news on Bob Perry and his money.

Who is Bob Perry and why does he care about Minnesota politics?
Why would a Texan, who has no business interests in Minnesota, spend $500,000 on Minnesota's governor's race? Bob Perry, a Houston based home builder, did just that, when he contributed to a special interest group that ran campaign ads against Democrat Mike Hatch. Listen to MPR broadcast - Listen to feature audio

MPR - Swift Boat financier was primary source behind anti-Hatch ads
The man who helped bankroll the swift boat attack ads against John Kerry in 2004 was also the main financial backer of a last-minute campaign in Minnesota against DFL gubernatorial candidate Mike Hatch this year. A report filed with the Internal Revenue Service shows Texas homebuilder Bob Perry donated a half-million dollars to the national group called "A Stronger America."

Late anti-Hatch funds were local, too
Newly filed data show Minnesota donors added nearly $200,000 to the $500,000 given by a wealthy Texan to a defeat-Hatch effort...The Minnesota money is on top of $500,000 that Houston homebuilder Bob Perry gave to the ad campaign against Hatch. The Texan's contribution also wasn't reported before the election. The disclosures are expected to revive calls in the Legislature next year for greater transparency and timeliness in reporting large campaign donations during the homestretch of election campaigns... The 2007 Legislature almost certainly will give serious consideration to proposals to require prompt, pre-election disclosure of large late-campaign spending and contributions by such tax-exempt groups, legislative leaders in both parties and in the House and Senate said Wednesday.

Builder puts $16 million into election process
Houston home builder Bob Perry poured $16 million into state and federal races during the recent election cycle, apparently making him the biggest individual political contributor in the country for 2005-06, a money-tracking group reported Tuesday... "Texas is the Wild West of money in politics. Texas needs limits," said Andrew Wheat, TPJ's research director... After contributing $3.8 million to state candidates and committees in the 2002 election, Perry was instrumental in the Legislature's creation in 2003 of the Texas Residential Construction Commission, an agency criticized by consumer advocates as a builder-protection agency.

GOP House Builder Bob Perry Lost Bids for Capitol Additions
Bob Perry, the top political donor in Texas--and in the nation--increased his giving in the 2006 state elections by 44 percent over 2004. Perry dumped $6.7 million on state candidates and PACs and another $9.3 million on federal races. Among Perry's top slate of Lege candidates, 12 of 14 came away losers on election day.
See: The new Lobby Watch details Perry's 2006 Texas political spending

Oh, come on, people!
So when former state Rep. Bill Ceverha, who sits on the State Employees Retirement System Board, filed a June 2005 personal finance statement, he identified two "gifts" received from Houston homebuilder Bob Perry as "checks." The fact that each check was made out for $50,000 was not a necessary part of the description, according to the ethics advisory opinion released this week.