Campaigns seeking to cudgel the opposition this election season have been employing LegiStorm in a variety of contexts.
Some examples:
In Missouri's heated Senate race, the campaigns of Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) traded barbs over the level of pay females in Akin's office receive. Citing LegiStorm's database of congressional staff salaries, McCaskill's campaign alleges that Akin paid female staffers 23.4 percent less than men from 2001-2010. Akin's campaign quickly retorted using LegiStorm's information that in the most recent quarter of 2012, female Akin staffers earned $3,158 more than their male counterparts.
In the battle for rural Arizona's first congressional district, state Sen. Jonathan Paton (R-Ariz.) accused former Rep. Anne Kirkpatrick (D-Ariz.) of doling out big bonuses to former campaign aides in her losing bid for reelection. Paton's campaign used LegiStorm's database of staff salaries as the basis for an ad that stated Kirkpatrick "spent more than $100,000 of our money in her final 48 hours in office." Kirkpatrick's campaign responded by saying the salaries should have been viewed as pay for work done over the course of previous weeks and months, not just those two days.
Republican businessman Michael Riley cut an ad in Rhode Island's second congressional district race that accuses his opponent, Rep. Jim Langevin (D-R.I.), of receiving $20 million in taxpayer and special interest money during his time in office to use at his own discretion. Politifact, which called the accusations technically truthful but a "gross distortion," found using LegiStorm's site that $11 million of that $20 million figure comes in the form of staff salaries.
At the local level, the contest for Mayor of San Diego between GOP city councilmember Carl DeMaio and Rep. Bob Filner (D-Calif.) has featured a debate over congressional travel paid for by outside groups. DeMaio slammed Filner for accepting 16 trips at a cost of almost $40,000 over the congressman's 12 years in office, referring to LegiStorm's database of privately financed trips. Filner responds that his travel is de rigueur for a member and part of keeping himself informed about issues.
