Former Congressman Joe Kennedy has $2 Million in Campaign Account

Leftovers

New Bedford Standard Times

Matthew Huisman

Boston University Washington News Service

April 9, 2008

WASHINGTON – Joseph P. Kennedy II hasn’t served in the House of Representatives since January 1999 and yet he still has more than $2 million in his campaign account, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission.

It is not uncommon for a candidate to leave office with funds left from the campaign, according to Massie Ritsch, the communications director for the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan organization that tracks money in politics. He added that candidates often reserve funds for another attempt at politics.

“They also use their money to retain influence over other politicians,” Mr. Ritsch said. He said Mr. Kennedy could use the money to make contributions to candidates or to a political party.

“What’s more typical is that people donate it in some fashion to a cause, something consistent with their beliefs,” said John Portz, a political science professor at Northeastern University.

Mr. Portz used the example of Michael Dukakis, former Massachusetts governor and 1988 Democratic presidential candidate. After Mr. Dukakis left office as governor, he went to teach political science at Northeastern University and used the vast majority of his campaign money to fund internships and co-op programs for students in state and local governments.

“Kennedy clearly hasn’t said that, keeping it open,” Mr. Portz said. “There was a time when his name was touted as a name for governor.”

Mr. Kennedy, the son of the late Sen. Robert Kennedy and nephew of Sen. Edward Kennedy, served six terms in the House, from 1987 to 1999, representing the 8th Congressional District. According to filings with the Federal Election Commission, he has done little with the $1,455,077.66 that remained in his campaign fund when he left office, other than let it earn interest. At the end of 2007 the account was worth $2,118,149.

During 2007 Mr. Kennedy earned $185,186 in interest but he also contributed to a number of political candidates, including Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), according to filings with the Federal Election Commission.

“The longer somebody has been in, the more likely it is that they have more funds,” said Bill Hogan, director of investigative projects for the Center for Public Integrity, a nonpartisan, nonprofit investigative journalism organization.

Mr. Hogan said it would not be illegal for Mr. Kennedy to donate money to his own non-profit organization. “It would be legally permissible for him to do that as long as it’s clear that the money wasn’t going back into his pocket.”

Since leaving office, Mr. Kennedy has focused on his non-profit organization, the Citizens Energy Corporation, which provides low-cost heating options for needy families.

Mr. Hogan said that there is a pattern of former members’ giving to their own non-profits or starting their own non-profit and donating funds to it.

After more than a dozen calls and numerous emails over the span of a month to Ashley Durmer, the communications director of Citizens Energy Corporation, Mr. Kennedy could not be reached.

Stephen Kidder, a lawyer with Hemenway and Barnes in Boston who coordinates Mr. Kennedy’s Federal Election Commission filings, said Tuesday that the status of the campaign account remains unchanged and declined to comment further.

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