Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) had a good fundraising year for his own campaign account and for the Democratic Senate Caucus Committee. (Photo by Bryan P. Sears/Maryland Matters)
Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) raised eyebrows in the fall when he borrowed a page from congressional leaders and hosted a $25,000-per-ticket retreat at a ranch in Colorado to benefit the Democratic Senate Caucus Committee.
If there were concerns, they do not appear to have been shared by donors.
At least 14 entities appear to have ponied up to join Ferguson at the Devil’s Thumb Ranch in Tabernash, Colorado, about 75 miles west of Denver, according to campaign finance reports released Wednesday that cover financial activities from Jan. 11, 2024, to Jan. 8 of this year.
They showed that the caucus brought in several hundred thousand dollars in all over the past 12 months for two separate funds.
Presiding officers in the General Assembly are almost always prodigious fundraisers — as the latest campaign finance reports confirm. But Ferguson’s high-dollar event represented a Rocky Mountain high for a caucus event price tag.
And interest groups were willing to pay the full freight: According to the finance statements, attendees and donors, who were invited personally by Ferguson, included:
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Alterwood Health Inc., a Timonium-based health care conglomerate
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Caesars Enterprise Services, the casino and resort operator
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CareFirst Management Co. LLC, the health insurance provider
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Compass Government Relations, an Annapolis lobbying firm
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Health Care Facility Management LLC
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The Howard Hughes Corp., developer of Columbia
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Sunrise Holdings LP, a financial services firm in York, Pennsylvania
Contributions to most state campaign accounts in Maryland are capped at $6,000 per election cycle. One of the exceptions are administrative funds for the legislative caucus committees, which have no contribution limits, though the money can only be used to hire staff and pay for administrative purposes, rather than for ads, mailers or other forms of electioneering.
The late October Colorado ranch retreat featured a range of activities and expert speakers. Joining Ferguson from the Senate were President Pro Tem Malcolm Augustine (D-Prince George’s), Majority Leader Nancy J. King (D-Montgomery) and Sen. Craig J. Zucker (D-Montgomery), who is chair of the Democratic caucus.
The Senate Democratic committee paid about $64,000 to use the ranch for the retreat, and several thousand dollars more for transportation and associated expenses.
The Senate Democratic Caucus’ administration fund raised $458,265 over the past year, and reported $461,797 in the bank as of Jan. 8. In addition to the entities that sent representatives to Colorado, other $25,000 donors to the fund were U.S. Rep. Sarah K. Elfreth (D-3rd), who shifted $25,000 to the Senate Democrats from her own Senate campaign fund; former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg; and the Laborers Mid-Atlantic Regional Council, which contributed $25,000 on two separate occasions during the fundraising period.
Bloomberg also contributed $6,000 to the Senate caucus’ regular campaign account.
The campaign committee reported raising $198,149 for its regular account, which can be used for electioneering activities or shared with other candidates. That fund had $305,649 on hand on Jan. 8.
Ferguson also continued to raise money aggressively for his personal campaign account, taking in $649,356 over the past year and finishing with $1,179,764 in his war chest as of Jan. 8. That was a marked improvement over 2023, when Ferguson collected $474,355.
Ferguson’s contributors over the past year included representatives from almost every industry doing business in Maryland, from auto dealers to energy companies to financial institutions and health care concerns. Unions were also generous donors, and State House lobbyists featured prominently in Ferguson’s finance report.
The Democrats’ take during the past year dwarfs the fundraising by Republican legislative leaders and their campaign committees, which is unsurprising considering the Democrats’ supermajorities in both the Senate and House.
The Senate Republican Caucus Committee reported raising $34,500 over the past year for its regular account, and another $6,000 for its administrative account. It reported $56,351 on hand in the regular account as of Jan. 8, and $24,864 in its administrative account.
Senate Minority Leader Stephen S. Hershey Jr. (R-Upper Shore) had not filed his annual fundraising report as of Thursday morning, according to the Maryland State Board of Elections website.
House Democrats also raised a ton of money in the year after Jan. 11, 2024. The House Democratic Caucus Committee reported raising $139,535 for its regular account over the past year, with $162,966 on hand on Jan. 8. The committee also pulled in $60,000 for the administrative account, finishing the reporting period with $259,276 in the bank.
House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County) reported $668,758 in her personal campaign account as of Jan. 8, after raising $298,346 in the previous year. She had the same mix of donors as Ferguson.
House Minority Leader Jason C. Buckel (R-Allegany), by contrast, raised $45,250 in the past year and reported $90,430 in the bank as of Jan. 8.
The Republican House Caucus Committee raised $37,300 for its regular account and had $39,919 on hand a week ago. The Republicans raised just $4,500 for their administrative account and had $4,765 in it as of Jan. 8.