More Rendell Pay-to-Play from Democracy Rising PA

This is from Tim Potts's blog. He's the founder and head of the citizen advocacy group, Democracy Rising Pennslvania, which advocates government reform in the Commonwealth. It's the kind of gutty investigative reporting you'll never find in the Erie news media.

Last week the Harrisburg Patriot reported that Gov. Ed Rendell's administration has signed a seven-year, $201.1 million contract with a Minnesota testing company. Data Recognition Corp. (DRC), which provides tests for the state's current standardized testing program, got the contract to create a new, statewide graduation exam even though the General Assembly has not authorized the testing program.

Where might pay-to-play come in? According to state records, DRC executives made these contributions to Rendell's gubernatorial campaign:

February 24, 2006 - $5,000 from Russell Hagen (chair of DRC's board)
September 21, 2006 - $1,000 from Hagen
September 23, 2006 - $1,000 from Susan Engeleiter (DRC's CEO & President)
January 18, 2007 - $10,000 from Hagen

Two weeks later on February 1, 2007, Rendell expressed support for "a single standard for high school graduation" based on recommendations from the Commission on College and Career Success, which Rendell convened in August 2005.

Questions:

Why would a Minnesota corporation pay so much attention to an election that was a foregone conclusion in PA? (Rendell won 60%-40%.)
If the object of a campaign contribution is to influence the outcome of an election, why did Hagen's largest contribution occur after the election when Rendell still had $1.7 million in campaign funds and no debt to retire?
Why is Rendell accepting contributions for a gubernatorial campaign when he can't run for governor again?

Implications for the budget. This is not a new trick for Rendell. In 2007 he held up the budget, demanding increased funding for motion picture production. Unknown to lawmakers was that Rendell had secretly signed a letter committing $3.5 million to Lionsgate, a film production company in California. Lionsgate was represented by former Rep. Mike Veon, D-Beaver, who had lost re-election in 2006 following his vote not to repeal the Pay raise of 2005 and who is now awaiting trial for his alleged role in the Bonus Scandal.

Question: Will Rendell delay this year's budget until he has retroactive authority for the DRC contract?

That other notorious coincidence. The DRC contract is reminiscent of another coincidence between contributions to Rendell's political fortunes and a contract for the contributor. See theApril 9 edition of DR News presenting the Wall Street Journal's report on Rendell and a Houston, TX law firm.

Rendell's not alone. Although he got the lion's share of campaign contributions from DRC executives, Rendell was not the only PA political figure to benefit. Here are other contributions:

October 5, 2007 - $500 from Hagen to Friends of Jess Stairs (Stairs, R-Westmoreland, was then chair of the House Education Committee)
May 14, 2007 - $1,000 from Hagen to Dominic Pileggi for Senate Committee (Pileggi, R-Delaware, was and is majority leader)
May 9, 2007 - $500 from Hagen to Friends of Jim Rhoades Committee (Rhoades was then chair of the Senate Education Committee)
November 17, 2006 - $1,000 from Hagen to Friends of Jim Rhoades Committee
November 13, 2006 - $600 from Hagen to Friends of Jess Stairs
November 6, 2006 - $500 from Hagen to Raphael Musto for Senate Committee (Musto was then minority chair of the Senate Education Committee)
November 3, 2006 - $500 from Hagen to Friends of James Roebuck Committee (Roebuck was then minority chair of the House Education Committee)
November 2, 2006 - $1,000 from Hagen to Friends of John Perzel (Perzel, R-Phila., was then Speaker of the House)
September 20, 2006 - $400 from Hagen to Friends of Jess Stairs
May 11, 2006 - $1,500 from Sandra Wiese (DRC's VP of Governmental Affairs) to Friends of Senator Jubelirer Committee (Jubelirer was then president pro tempore of the Senate)
May 9, 2006 - $1,000 from Hagen to Friends of Sen. Dave Brightbill Committee (Brightbill was then majority leader)
January 18, 2006 - $1,000 from Wiese to the Committee to Elect Mike Veon (Veon was then minority whip)

Question:
Why have there been no contributions since October 2007?