Underperforming Event Hurts GOP's Finances, Dogs Committee's Chairman

Tony Campbell's words could come back to haunt him.

The Baltimore County Republican Central Committee chairman faces criticism from his own party's leadership after an April event failed to raise a significant amount of money.

The party has less money in its coffers as of most recent reports available in April — about $2,700 — after its biggest fundraiser of the year than it did when it filed its annual report early this year. The committee reported in January having about $4,200 in cash on hand.

Ken Anderson, treasurer of the committee, said he expects the figure to be higher when he presents his report to the full committee. He declined to provide a figure.

It's an issue Campbell acknowledges is bound to come up during tonight's central committee meeting in Timonium.

For his part, Campbell said he's done the best with what he has to work with, including a committee that failed to help him sell tickets.

"I had a committee that, at least partially, wasn't going to be responsible and sell tickets," Campbell said. "I had to plan an event where at least one-third of the committee wasn't going to sell tickets."

In all, the event had a paid attendance of about 150 people, according to figures Campbell provided to committee members last month.

Campbell presided over the most recent Lincoln-Reagan day dinner, the party's biggest fund-raiser. This year the event raised about $2,500, according to the chairman.

The amount is about three times smaller than last year's event—a fact that has many saying that Campbell's first nine months of leadership have been a failure.

The low attendance and amount raised causes some to complain that Campbell should be held to a standard they said he set during the 2010 campaign.

Some committee members said Campbell, during his campaign for the chairmanship, said the chairman should be able to raise at least $15,000—something Campbell, in an interview, said he couldn't remember saying.

"I never put out a number," Campbell said. "I don't think I did. If I did, I'd like to know what it is."

But Campbell did use that figure last July when he wrote on his blog about the failings he attributed to then-Chairman Chris Cavey.

"This year, [Cavey] announced the dinner less than one month before the holding of the event," Campbell wrote last July.  "My understanding is that the amount raised was about $15,000. In this election cycle, there is a candidate for state delegate who raised $10,000 at his first event. Clearly, the BCRCC should be able to raise more than $15,000 at their annual dinner that had Governor Ehrlich and Dana Perino as its headliners."

But on Friday, Campbell said the committee still must shoulder part of the blame for the event.

"They're going to say I failed to raise the money when they didn't sell tickets," Campbell said.

This blog has been updated.

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