Political group has spent $1.365 million backing Williams for governor

FRANKFORT — An independent political group called Restoring America reported Friday that it has raised and spent $1.365 million in Kentucky's gubernatorial race.

The group, which has aired TV and radio ads against Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear and for Republican challenger David Williams, did not list any of its contributors in a report filed with the state Registry of Election Finance.

It simply reported that Restoring America Inc. of Lexington raised $1.365 million on Sept. 26 and spent the same amount on the same date with Strategic Media Placement Inc. of Delaware, Ohio, for "broadcast ads buys for advocacy."

The report listed the group's treasurer as Mark Blankenbecler of Powell, Ohio. A call to the phone number listed on the report revealed that his name is Mike Blankenbecler, not Mark. He was not available for comment.

The independent group has registered with the secretary of state's office as a Kentucky corporation and as a political organization with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. Some political committees do not have to identify contributors with state filings if they are registered with the IRS.

All 32-day pre-election campaign finance reports in this fall's elections are to be filed with the registry by Oct. 12.

Another independent group, Kentucky Family Values, that has promoted Beshear has not yet filed its finance report.

Meanwhile, an independent group based in Denver has raised $622,816 and spent $40,000 to help Democratic Attorney General Jack Conway's re-election campaign. The Bluegrass Democratic Attorney General Association's chairman, Travis Berry of Denver, could not be reached for comment.

The group reported a balance of $582,816.

Its national contributors included $25,000 from American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, $25,000 from the American Federation of Teachers, $16,666 from Time Warner Cable, $10,000 from Thornton & Naumes LLP in Boston, $25,000 from Hewlett Packard, $25,000 from Pfizer, $25,000 from Genentech, $25,000 from American Natural Gas Alliance, $25,000 from Anheuser-Busch, $10,000 from National Propane Gas Association, $25,000 from Altria Client Services (Philip Morris USA), $25,000 from ServiceMaster and $50,000 from Office Depot.

It spent $40,000 on Sept. 29 for a contribution to the Bluegrass Committee for Justice & Fairness in Lexington, another independent campaign committee.

This story was originally published October 8, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Political group has spent $1.365 million backing Williams for governor."