SC caucus whose members attacked critic of Steyer payments also got paid by Steyer
South Carolina’s state Legislative Black Caucus, whose leader received tens of thousands of dollars working for billionaire Tom Steyer’s campaign, also received money from the presidential hopeful’s campaign, according to data from the Federal Election Commission.
The $7,500 payment was listed as an event sponsorship, which caucus Chairman S.C. Rep. Jerry Govan said went toward a voter awareness program.
“This is how we, as a nonprofit, basically are able to raise funds without having to charge the public for those programs and projects,” Govan said, later comparing the disbursement to contributions from a campaign.
Govan said several presidential campaigns had given money to the caucus through sponsorships, but The State only found one other campaign listed as a contributor to the caucus in federal campaign financial filings. U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris’ campaign, which suspended activity in December 2019, gave the caucus $5,000, which was listed as a donation, according to the Federal Election Commission.
A spokesperson for Pete Buttigieg told The State the campaign for the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, considered sponsoring a caucus event but did not have money in the budget to pay the minimum sponsorship of $3,500. The campaign said it offered to pay the caucus $2,000 instead, but the caucus declined the money.
Former Hillary Clinton state director and Cory Booker campaign advisor Clay Middleton said campaigns routinely pay to sponsor other organizations.
Those sponsorships can give campaigns access and invitations to meetings and events held by the organization, he said. They can also lead to organizations hosting events for the donors.
“You’re paying for access to the membership and an opportunity to make a presentation to them, etc.,” Middleton said.
Middleton said reaching out the Legislative Black Caucus could be an important step for campaigns to connect to voters in South Carolina. But, he said, a sponsorship isn’t enough, and campaigns need to use that connection to meet voters in the area.
“Just because you contribute to an organization doesn’t mean that you’ve got voter contact,” Middleton said.
News about the disbursement from the Steyer campaign came amid a controversy over Govan receiving more than $40,000 from that campaign and being called out by a fellow state lawmaker.
Last week, Sen. Dick Harpootlian, a Richland Democrat and frequent critic of his colleagues, tweeted that Govan received more than $40,000 from the Steyer campaign.
“Mr. Money Bags a.k.a @TomSteyer has paid S.C. State Rep. Jerry Govan almost $50,000 for a month worth of work? Is he pocketing the dough or redistributing the wealth? cc: Steyer FEC report,” Harpootlian tweeted.
Govan, the chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus, works as a consultant and campaign adviser on the campaign, for which he is paid $10,000 per month. He is also reimbursed for some expenses related to his campaign work, according to the campaign, and an LLC connected to him owns an office that the campaign rents in Orangeburg. The company was paid $2,100 for rent last year, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
After the state House of Representatives and state Senate finished a joint session Feb. 5, members of the Legislative Black Caucus met in a closed door meeting to discuss Harpootlian’s tweet. Ultimately, several members of the caucus held a press conference, in which House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford, also a Richland Democrat, accused Harpootlian of exhibiting a pattern of racist attacks.
Rutherford and other caucus members called on former Vice President Joe Biden to publicly disavow Harpootlian — a major Biden booster, but not a campaign employee. Rutherford said if Biden did not distance himself from Harpootlian, members of the caucus would talk to members of the black community — a critical voting bloc in the South Carolina Democratic primary — about the incident.
Harpootlian, a harsh critic of those he thinks are not doing their jobs or are corrupt, said he was attacking Steyer, not Govan, for the payments.
During a Friday debate in New Hampshire, Steyer called on Biden to disavow Harpootlian, saying the senator’s statements were “racist” and “wrong.”
Biden replied: “I’ve already spoken to Dick Harpootlian and ... he in fact is ... was ... I believe sorry for what he said. But here’s the deal folks. We’ve got to stop taking the black community for granted. That’s the starting place.”
On Tuesday, some members of the Legislative Black Caucus held another press conference at the South Carolina State House, calling Biden’s statements during the debate a “disappointment.”
“We understood on the debate stage that he reached out to Sen. Harpootlian and that Sen. Harpootlian apologized,” Rutherford said Tuesday. “However, none of us have received phone calls telling us that. None of us have heard this supposed apology by Sen. Harpootlian. All of us understand that that is not the case.”
Harpootlian did not comment on Rutherford’s statement Tuesday, and the Biden campaign reiterated that the senator was not speaking on behalf of the campaign or the former vice president.
This story was updated to correct information about the Buttigieg campaign’s involvement with the caucus.
This story was originally published February 12, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
