Dem Chair Buckley Received $138K in Consulting Fees

The news that the New Hampshire Senate Democratic Caucus raised almost $432,000 for their 2008 campaign effort raised eyebrows in the Capital City. That’s a lot of money; a record, in fact.

Eyebrows remained up when the cash on hand figure surfaced: Just over $107,000. Still a lot of money, but where did the $325,000 or so go?

A brief analysis by the bloggers at Granite Grok indicates Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley received roughly one dollar out of every three dollars spent by the Senate Democratic PAC. Buckley’s total compensation thus far is $138,000.

“I wonder if their donor[s] realized that 43% of what was spent for the Democrat cause was spent on one person,” remarked blogger and Gilford Republican Town Chairman Skip Murphy.

Few political observers would argue that Buckley is undeserving of compensation. He ran the Democratic Senate PAC successfully during the 2006 campaign cycle and is knows as an aggressive organizer. What’s more, the Democratic Party has rarely enjoyed its present level of political success in the Granite State.

However, like the Republicans, the chairmanship of the New Hampshire Democratic Party is an unpaid position and Buckley’s compensation, particularly such a high level of compensation, is raising eyebrows higher still.

The New Hampshire Democratic Party was unavailable for immediate comment.

In related news, state Republican Chairman Fergus Cullen cannot boast of having the same sized war chest as Buckley, but he can boast a full slate of Republican state senate candidates.

“I think it’s fair to say that our candidate recruitment efforts exceeded expectations. We have more candidates, and better quality candidates, than many observers predicted we would have. This is a sign that the Republican Party is regaining strength, energy, and optimism heading into election season,” Cullen said in a press release.