Democratic National Committee
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The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the principal campaign and fund-raising organization affiliated with the United States Democratic Party. The DNC was established at the 1848 Democratic National Convention.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) provides national leadership for the Democratic Party of the United States. It is responsible for promoting the Democratic political platform, as well as coordinating fundraising and election strategy.
Its counterparts include the Republican National Committee, the Libertarian National Committee, and the Green National Committee.
Current DNC Leadership
- Chairman: Howard Dean, former Governor of Vermont
- Vice Chairpersons:
- * Mike Honda, U.S. Representative from California
- * Linda Chavez-Thompson, Executive Vice President of the AFL-CIO
- * Susan Turnbull, Maryland Democratic Party
- * Lottie Shackelford, former Mayor of Little Rock, Arkansas
- * Mark Brewer, Michigan Democratic Party Chairman and President of the Association of State Democratic Chairs
- Treasurer: Andrew Tobias, businessman, author, and financial self-help guru
- Secretary: Alice Travis Germond
- National Finance Chairwoman: Maureen White, U.S. representative to UNICEF, Chairwoman of the Leadership Council on Children Affected by Armed Conflict, and board member of Human Rights Watch and the International Rescue Committee
DNC fundraising
In the 2001-2002 election cycle the DNC raised a total of US $162,062,084, 42% of which was hard money. The largest contributor, with US$ 10,300,000 was the Saban Capital Group, founded in 2001 by Haim Saban, who also founded Fox Family group. The second largest contributor was Shangri-La Entertainment, which gave US $5,175,000. Newsweb Corp, owned by Fred Eychaner, gave the third highest amount of money to the DNC, US $4,755,000.In the 2005-2006 election cycle, the DNC raised a total of US $61,141,823, all of it hard money. The three largest contributors were Hill Wallack (a law firm), Jonathan Rose & Co. (developers), and Bain Capital (an investment firm). Hill Wallack gave US $100,000 and the other two each gave US $53,400. The overwhelming majority of contributions are coming from small donors, giving less than $100.
1996 campaign fund-raising controversy
In late September 1996, questions arose regarding the Democratic Party's fund-raising practices. In February of the following year, the People's Republic of China's alleged role in the controversy first gained public attention after Republican media figure Bob Woodward's Washington Post published a story stating that an investigation by the Democratic Party-controlled Department of Justice had discovered evidence that agents of China sought to direct contributions from foreign sources to the DNC before the 1996 presidential campaign. The paper wrote that intelligence information had shown the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C. was used for coordinating contributions to the DNCWoodward, Bob and Duffy, Brian, ["Chinese Embassy Role In Contributions Probed"], Washington Post, Feb. 13, 1997 in violation of U.S. law forbidding non-American citizens from giving monetary donations to U.S. politicians and political parties. Seventeen people, including DNC fund-raisers John Huang, Charlie Trie, James Riady, and Johnny Chung, were convicted for fraud or for funneling Asian funds into the U.S. elections.
In 2002, the Federal Election Commission fined the Democratic National Committee $115,000 for its part in illegal fund-raising during the 1996 U.S. election campaigns. The FEC's general counsel recommended more severe penalties, but the three Democratic election commissioners on the committee blocked the recommendation on a 3-3 tie vote.["DNC fined for illegal 1996 fund raising"], CNN.com, Sept. 23, 2002
DNC Chairpersons
List from http://rulers.org/usgovt.html#parties
References
External link
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