Democratic Attorneys General Association
| Democratic Attorneys General Association | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Website: | Official website |
The Democratic Attorneys General Association (DAGA) is a Section 527 national political organization. Formed in 2002, three years after the Republican Attorneys General Association, DAGA supports Democratic candidates running for the office of state attorney general in the U.S. and its territories. The funds raised by the organization are used to provide capital to attorneys general campaigns or to purchase advertising on behalf of candidates. Additionally, DAGA gives to Democratic Party committees "as appropriate."[1]
While the organization's primary mission is to help candidates financially, it also provides "political consulting, technical assistance, candidate training, talent recruitment and other general political support services for sitting Democratic attorneys general and candidates for the vital office."[1]
Current Democratic Attorneys General
For reference, as of April 2015, there were 22 Democratic attorneys general across the country. A total of 43 states directly elect their attorneys general.
| Office title | Officeholder name | Date assumed office | Party affiliation |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Attorney General of Arizona |
January 2, 2023 |
Democratic Party |
|
|
Attorney General of California |
April 23, 2021 |
Democratic Party |
|
|
Attorney General of Colorado |
January 8, 2019 |
Democratic Party |
|
|
Attorney General of Connecticut |
January 9, 2019 |
Democratic Party |
|
|
Attorney General of Delaware |
January 1, 2019 |
Democratic Party |
|
|
Attorney General of Illinois |
January 15, 2019 |
Democratic Party |
|
|
Attorney General of Maine |
January 8, 2019 |
Democratic Party |
|
|
Attorney General of Maryland |
January 3, 2023 |
Democratic Party |
|
|
Attorney General of Massachusetts |
January 4, 2023 |
Democratic Party |
|
|
Attorney General of Michigan |
January 1, 2019 |
Democratic Party |
|
|
Attorney General of Minnesota |
January 7, 2019 |
Democratic Party |
|
|
Attorney General of Nevada |
January 7, 2019 |
Democratic Party |
|
|
Attorney General of New Jersey |
September 29, 2022 |
Democratic Party |
|
|
Attorney General of New Mexico |
January 1, 2023 |
Democratic Party |
|
|
Attorney General of New York |
January 1, 2019 |
Democratic Party |
|
|
Attorney General of North Carolina |
January 1, 2017 |
Democratic Party |
|
|
Attorney General of Oregon |
June 29, 2012 |
Democratic Party |
|
|
Attorney General of Pennsylvania |
March 8, 2023 |
Democratic Party |
|
|
Attorney General of Rhode Island |
January 1, 2019 |
Democratic Party |
|
|
Attorney General of Vermont |
January 5, 2023 |
Democratic Party |
|
|
Attorney General of Washington |
January 16, 2013 |
Democratic Party |
|
|
Attorney General of Washington D.C. |
January 2, 2023 |
Democratic Party |
|
|
Attorney General of Wisconsin |
January 7, 2019 |
Democratic Party |
Campaign finance
The following data comes from Followthemoney.org:[2][3]
| Contributions to candidates by DAGA | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | State | Election year | Election status | Incumbency status | Total amount given |
| Mark Herring | VA | 2013 | WON-GENERAL | OPEN | $1,354,000 |
| Jim Hood | MS | 2007 | WON-GENERAL | INCUMBENT | $1,150,000 |
| Chris Koster | MO | 2012 | WON-GENERAL | INCUMBENT | $844,778 |
| Chris Koster | MO | 2008 | WON-GENERAL | OPEN | $600,000 |
| Steve Shannon | VA | 2009 | LOST-GENERAL | OPEN | $400,000 |
| Linda Pence | IN | 2008 | LOST-GENERAL | OPEN | $395,000 |
| Creigh Deeds | VA | 2005 | LOST-GENERAL | OPEN | $305,000 |
| Jim Hood | MS | 2003 | WON-GENERAL | OPEN | $300,000 |
| Gary King | NM | 2010 | WON-GENERAL | INCUMBENT | $200,000 |
| Jim Hood | MS | 2011 | WON-GENERAL | INCUMBENT | $160,584 |
| Ellen Rosenblum | OR | 2012 | WON-GENERAL | INCUMBENT | $150,000 |
| Kathleen KaneG | PA | 2012 | WON-GENERAL | OPEN | $100,000 |
| Gary King | NM | 2006 | WON-GENERAL | OPEN | $78,000 |
| Tom Miller | IA | 2010 | WON-GENERAL | INCUMBENT | $50,000 |
| Eric Schneiderman | NY | 2010 | WON-GENERAL | OPEN | $50,000 |
| James J. Eisenhower | PA | 2004 | LOST-GENERAL | OPEN | $35,000 |
| Andrew Cuomo | NY | 2006 | WON-GENERAL | OPEN | $33,900 |
| David Leyton | MI | 2010 | LOST-GENERAL | OPEN | $33,500 |
| John Kroger | OR | 2008 | WON-GENERAL | OPEN | $25,000 |
| Lisa Madigan | IL | 2010 | WON-GENERAL | INCUMBENT | $25,000 |
| Peggy A. Lautenschlager | WI | 2006 | LOST-PRIMARY | INCUMBENT | $21,560 |
| Thurbert E. Baker | GA | 2006 | WON-GENERAL | INCUMBENT | $15,000 |
| Susan Happ | WI | 2014 | LOST-GENERAL | OPEN | $15,000 |
| Ken Hodges | GA | 2010 | LOST-GENERAL | OPEN | $12,200 |
| Catherine Cortez Masto | NV | 2006 | WON-GENERAL | OPEN | $10,000 |
| Catherine Cortez Masto | NV | 2010 | WON-GENERAL | INCUMBENT | $10,000 |
| Ross Miller | NV | 2014 | LOST-GENERAL | OPEN | $10,000 |
| Kamala D. Harris | CA | 2014 | WON-GENERAL | INCUMBENT | $6,800 |
| Kamala D. Harris | CA | 2010 | WON-GENERAL | OPEN | $6,500 |
| Doug Gansler | MD | 2006 | WON-GENERAL | OPEN | $6,000 |
| Bill Sorrell | VT | 2008 | WON-GENERAL | INCUMBENT | $6,000 |
| Bill Sorrell | VT | 2010 | WON-GENERAL | INCUMBENT | $6,000 |
| Martin O'Malley | MD | 2010 | WON-GENERAL | INCUMBENT | $6,000 |
| Michael Busch | MD | 2010 | WON-GENERAL | INCUMBENT | $6,000 |
| Doug Gansler | MD | 2010 | WON-GENERAL | INCUMBENT | $6,000 |
| Bill Sorrell | VT | 2012 | WON-GENERAL | INCUMBENT | $6,000 |
| Bill Sorrell | VT | 2014 | WON-GENERAL | INCUMBENT | $6,000 |
| Jerry Brown | CA | 2006 | WON-GENERAL | OPEN | $5,600 |
| Drew Edmondson | OK | 2006 | WON-GENERAL | INCUMBENT | $5,000 |
| Stephen Six | KS | 2010 | LOST-GENERAL | CHALLENGER | $4,000 |
| Dustin McDaniel | AR | 2010 | WON-GENERAL | INCUMBENT | $4,000 |
| Brian Frosh | MD | 2014 | WON-GENERAL | OPEN | $4,000 |
| Ulysses Currie | MD | 2010 | WON-GENERAL | INCUMBENT | $3,846 |
| Bob Ferguson | WA | 2012 | WON-GENERAL | OPEN | $3,600 |
| Douglas Peters | MD | 2010 | WON-GENERAL | INCUMBENT | $2,577 |
| Bill Sorrell | VT | 2006 | WON-GENERAL | INCUMBENT | $2,000 |
| Victor Ramirez | MD | 2010 | WON-GENERAL | OPEN | $1,250 |
| Arthur Hock | MD | 2010 | LOST-GENERAL | CHALLENGER | $1,000 |
| Gary King & Debra Haaland | NM | 2014 | LOST-GENERAL | CHALLENGER | $840 |
| Jonathan Weinstein | MD | 2010 | LOST-GENERAL | CHALLENGER | $500 |
| Jeff Waldstreicher | MD | 2010 | WON-GENERAL | INCUMBENT | $500 |
| Keiffer Mitchell, Jr. | MD | 2010 | WON-GENERAL | CHALLENGER | $500 |
| Bill Sorrell | VT | 2004 | WON-GENERAL | INCUMBENT | $400 |
| Brien Poffenberger | MD | 2010 | LOST-GENERAL | OPEN | $250 |
| Eric Luedtke | MD | 2010 | WON-GENERAL | CHALLENGER | $250 |
| Shawn Tarrant Z | MD | 2010 | WON-GENERAL | INCUMBENT | $250 |
| Luke Clippinger | MD | 2010 | WON-GENERAL | CHALLENGER | $250 |
| Daniel Collins Scripps | MI | 2010 | LOST-GENERAL | INCUMBENT | $100 |
| Doug Spade | MI | 2010 | LOST-GENERAL | OPEN | $100 |
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Center for Public Integrity on DAGA in 2014
According to the Center for Public Integrity, DAGA spent $1.4 million on television advertising in the 2014 election cycle. Its ads ran 2,508 times. A breakdown of these campaign ads reveals that DAGA ran more negative ads than positive ones. In Arkansas, DAGA ran 669 negative ads and 433 positive ones; about 60 percent of its ads in the state were negative. In New Mexico, the percentage of negative ads was a little higher, at 64 percent. DAGA ran 322 negative and 171 positive ads. Moreover, in Wisconsin, DAGA ran only negative ads. The group aired a total of 913 negative ads before the November election.[4]
The money spent had debatable success in the 2014 election. In Wisconsin, the solely negative ads did not help enough to turn the election. Republican Brad Schimel beat Democrat Susan Happ by 6 percentage points in the general election. Arkansas saw Republican Leslie Rutledge defeat Nate Steel in November. Finally, in New Mexico, DAGA saw success. Its candidate, Hector Balderas, won the November election, beating Susan Riedel by nearly 17 percentage points.[5][6][7]
Schimel, Rutledge and Balderas are all first-term attorneys general.
Political ads
Part of what DAGA spends its funds on is political advertising on behalf of candidates. According to its website, Three Point Media has worked with DAGA to produce several television ads in the last several campaigns. The production company says that their work "helped win four races for Attorney General in the last three years."[8]
DAGA ads produced by Three Point Media
Noteworthy events
5-Hour Energy lobbies attorneys general at DAGA event
In recent years, the traditionally non-lobbied attorneys general across the nation have been receiving more attention from lobbying groups, politically motivated and otherwise. According to an article from the New York Times:
| “ | Attorneys general are now the object of aggressive pursuit by lobbyists and lawyers who use campaign contributions, personal appeals at lavish corporate-sponsored conferences and other means to push them to drop investigations, change policies, negotiate favorable settlements or pressure federal regulators.[9] | ” |
| —Eric Lipton[10] | ||
As discussed in the article, a lawyer from the energy drink company "5-Hour Energy" attended a Democratic Attorneys General Association event where he learned from Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster that the state had opened an investigation into the company and its product, along with 29 other states. By the end of the event, however, Missouri was no longer investigating "5-Hour Energy."[10]
Virginia GOP files complaint against DAGA
In 2013, the Republican Party of Virginia filed a complaint with the state's Board of Elections, claiming that the Democratic Attorneys General Association (DAGA) did not properly disclose "the identity of contributors."[11]
The campaign at issue was that of Mark Herring, then a Virginia senator running for attorney general. He subsequently won the election in November, but not before DAGA was faced with an investigation and potential fines of $685,000. The letter sent to the Board of Elections stated that DAGA failed to report approximately $685,000 in contributions made to the group's Virginia PAC. The letter also claimed DAGA did not register as an out-of-state committee. The national organization is based in Denver, Colorado.
Travis Berry, DAGA's executive director, said the organization believed it was in compliance with the state's election laws.[11]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Democratic Attorneys General Association. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
- Democratic Attorneys General Association
- Democratic Attorneys General Association, "Meet the Attorneys General"
- Democratic Attorneys General Association, "2015 DAGA Spring Policy Conference"
- Campaignmoney.com, "List of contributors to DAGA"
- New York Times, "Democratic Attorneys General Court Corporate Donors Too," October 28, 2014
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Democratic Attorneys General Association, "About Us," accessed November 29, 2013
- ↑ Followthemoney.org, "Giving by candidate," accessed April 14, 2015
- ↑ Followthemoney.org, "Giving to party committees," accessed April 14, 2015
- ↑ Center for Public Integrity, "Democratic Attorneys General Association," December 8, 2014
- ↑ Wisconsin Attorney General election, 2014
- ↑ Arkansas Attorney General election, 2014
- ↑ New Mexico Attorney General election, 2014
- ↑ Three Point Media, "Democratic Attorneys General Association," accessed April 15, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 New York Times, "Lobbyists, Bearing Gifts, Pursue Attorneys General," October 28, 2014
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Washington Post, "Virginia GOP says Democratic group violated campaign finance rules in AG race," October 17, 2013
| |||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
