Campaign Committee

WASHINGTON -- Election Day is six months away, but Rep. Martin Frost wishes it were tomorrow.Armed with polls that show the Republican Congress still highly unpopular with the voters, Democrats like Mr. Frost are daring to dream of reclaiming the House of Representatives, which they lost in 1994 after 40 years of control."

Baltimore City Council President Mary Pat Clarke had a cash balance in her mayoral campaign of $6,976.87 as of November, according to a report filed yesterday.The report for Mrs. Clarke's campaign committee covers the period from November 1993 through Nov. 1, 1994, and shows total receipts of $52,995 and expenses of $46,018.13.The report of Citizens for Mary Pat Clarke '95 is the first filed by the campaign committee she set up in the fall of 1993, after she announced she would challenge Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke's bid for a third term.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Gov. Pete Wilson will launch an exploratory committee for the 1996 presidential campaign -- most likely this week -- in a move that sources portray as a necessary formality before his official entry into the Republican race.Wilson officials said that although the governor's announcement falls short of an official presidential declaration, it should be considered a confirmation that Mr. Wilson has decided to seek the presidency.They said the exploratory committee is a step to organize a national campaign staff before an official campaign is launched.

Julia W. Gouge lost the first political race of her career three weeks ago, but has recovered enough to say she's not sorry she got into it.She took a thorough beating, but being part of a statewide campaign bolstered her confidence and expanded her political options, she said.The Carroll County commissioner said many paths in and out of government are open to her, but she is waiting to see who wins the governor's race before saying what she really wants. She talks of a job in Annapolis and even a run for Congress.

Mayor Kurt Schmoke's campaign committee has made a major investment in the next General Assembly and a significant down payment on his re-election plans for next year.The roundelay of campaign cash is a case study of money in motion, from the bank accounts of cash-cow contractors into the campaign coffers of willing client-candidates. And, by gum, the size of the check is a calling card to who's important and, well, who's not quite.According to the latest financial report on file at the State Board of Elections, The Kurt Schmoke Committee transferred nearly $26,000 to 33 primary election candidates for the legislature as well as to Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. ($1,000)

Lt. Gov. Melvin A. Steinberg has agreed to pay $42,500 to his former senior campaign aide and one-time close friend Theodore G. Venetoulis to settle a bitter campaign-related legal dispute.Both sides confirmed that an out-of-court settlement was reached late last week for civil suits each filed against the other in December. Mr. Steinberg's lawyer, Paul Mark Sandler, disclosed the $42,500 figure after conferring with his client.Mr. Steinberg, a candidate for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, declined to comment.

WASHINGTON -- Just before 7 tonight, the limousines will begin lining up at the Washington Hilton, disgorging the nation's most powerful Democrats -- along with lobbyists, donors and corporate heavies who are paying $1,500 for a seat at the dinner table and a chance to mingle.Although Bill Clinton charged in the 1992 presidential campaign that "American politics is being held hostage by big money interests" and congressional Democrats are pushing a campaign finance reform bill, critics say that tonight's dinner typifies business as usual in the capital.

CHICAGO -- It was a historic campaign that generated millions of dollars in donations. Telemarketers worked the phones, direct mailings asked for dollars, and checks from $5 to $5,000 poured in.Two years later, federal election authorities are conducting an unusual wide-ranging audit of the campaign funds of Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun, D-Ill., and are finding possible breaches of federal election law.In the last six months of 1993, Ms. Moseley-Braun's campaign committee, which is $600,000 in debt, paid nearly $40,000 to the team of attorneys handling the audit for them.

Once political allies, now courtroom enemies, Lt. Gov. Melvin A. Steinberg and his former campaign coordinator, Theodore G. Venetoulis, are locked in a dispute over Mr. Venetoulis' brief stint at the wheel of the Steinberg gubernatorial effort.Mr. Venetoulis, a former Baltimore County executive and political analyst, filed suit against Mr. Steinberg and his campaign committee Dec. 29, claiming he was dismissedwithout cause in October after less than five months on the job.The lieutenant governor and his committee counter-sued the same day, alleging financial irregularities by Mr. Venetoulis involving payment of his salary, campaign bills and expense accounts.

WASHINGTON -- Other members of Congress donated thousands of dollars to Reps. Tom McMillen and Wayne T. Gilchrest during the final weeks of their hotly contested battle for the 1st Congressional District seat last month, according to records filed with the Federal Election Commission.Mr. McMillen, who lost the incumbent-vs.-incumbent race, collected the most donations from his Democratic colleagues -- $6,250 in the last week of the campaign. Mr. Gilchrest picked up $4,000 from fellow GOP representatives, the records show.