Del. Peter Franchot, a Democratic candidate for comptroller, said Federal Election Commission reports citing his occupation as “lobbyist” and his employer as “Cassidy & Associates,” a major Washington lobbying firm, were “not true” and “inaccurate,” insisting he was a self-employed business consultant, as some of the reports list him.
Franchot bills himself as “the only Democrat” in the race against Comptroller William Donald Schaefer and Anne Arundel County Executive Janet Owens, but he did not deny that he made two $1,000 contributions to prominent Republican Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania in 1997 and 1998. Franchot explained the donation by saying Specter “was probably in a race against a right-wing opponent.”
Specter easily won the primary and general elections that cycle.
In the last nine years, Franchot has contributed over $20,000 to 29 Democrats running for federal office. He also gave $250 to Republican Congressman Benjamin Gilman, N.Y., in 1998, which listed his occupation as “lobbyist.”
“These are just clerical errors? These are just inaccurate,” Franchot said. On 12 FEC reports, which require donors of $250 or more to list their employment, Cassidy & Associates is listed for Franchot.
“I?ve always been a consultant,” Franchot said. “I?ve never been a lobbyist.” He said he has been on Capitol Hill perhaps five times since he served as staff on a House committee for six years in the 1980s. “I pay rent for a small little space” in the Cassidy & Associates office in Washington, and he said he pays his own taxes as a self-employed consultant.
Franchot noted that Owens campaign manager Bob DiPietro is a registered lobbyist for five developers in Anne Arundel County. “It?s true,” DiPietro said, “but I?m not running for comptroller.”
