Congressional Quarterly Article on Campaign Fundraising

Friday, July 18, 2008

CQ TODAY ONLINE NEWS
July 17, 2008 – 1:26 p.m.

Democrats Hold a Cash Advantage in Open Seat Races
By Emily Cadei, CQ Staff

Democratic candidates for open House seats have expanded their cash lead in the second quarter of the year, new financial reports show.

Democrats running in the 21 open seats CQ Politics rates as competitive have raised an average of nearly $1 million each through June, and have kept an average of $501,000 in the bank. Their Republican counterparts, meanwhile, have raised about $879,000 on average, while keeping an average of $358,000 on hand. The analysis did not include the 9th District race in Missouri, which holds its primary Aug. 5. Candidates in that race will file their pre-primary reports next week.

Those sums represent a jump in the Democrats’ cumulative financial advantage in what promises to be a set of heavily contested races this fall. At the end of the first quarter the Democrats vying for these seats led Republicans in cash on hand by an average of $127,000. In the past three months, Democrats have expanded that gap to $146,000.

For many Republicans candidates running in open seats, some hard-fought primaries have taken a considerable toll on their resources. For example, Tom McClintock, running to succeed Rep. John T. Doolittle in California’s 4th District, raised $1.6 million through June, but ended the month with only $117,000 in the bank after slugging it out with Doug Ose for the GOP nomination. His Democratic opponent, Charlie Brown, did not face a contested primary and closed the month with $675,000 in the bank.

Other Republican candidates only recently entered races for seats that opened up unexpectedly — another reason for some of their lagging fundraising efforts. In 13th District of New York, for instance, Democrat Michael McMahon has been raising money since the early spring to challenge Republican Rep. Vito J. Fossella . Fossella’s unexpected retirement in the wake of a drunk driving arrest and reports of an extramarital affair has left three Republicans scrambling for the GOP nomination in that contest. They have not yet filed any campaign finance reports.

Among the open seats where Democrats have the biggest cash lead over Republicans are two races in new Jersey and one in New York.

• New Jersey 3: Democratic state Sen. John Adler has $1.5 million in the bank, while Republican Chris Myers, the mayor of Medford, has only $155,000 after winning a bitter June 3 primary.

• New Jersey 7: Democratic state Rep. Linda Stender boasts a vast cash advantage over her Republican opponent, state Sen. Leonard Lance. She has $1.2 million to Lance’s $81,000. Lance had to beat out six other Republicans for the GOP nomination.

• New York 25: Democrat Dan Maffei is taking his second swing at the seat after nearly beating Republican Rep. James T. Walsh in 2006. Walsh announced his retirement in January, leading to a Republican scramble to find a successor. They finally settled on former Onondaga County Legislature Chairman Dale Sweetland. By that time, Maffei had already established a significant fundraising lead, and closed out June with $962,000 in cash to only $108,000 for Sweetland.

Republicans, however, do have a cash advantage in a few key open seats, including:

• Virginia 11: Businessman Keith Fimian, the Republican nominee, banked $1 million at the close of the second quarter. His Democratic opponent, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerry Connolly, reported only $275,000.

• Florida 15: Republican state Sen. Bill Posey has a commanding cash lead over his two potential Democratic opponents, physician Steve Blythe and retired Air Force Lt. Colonel Paul Rancatore. Posey had $310,000 cash on hand at the end of June compared to $9,000 for Blythe and $5,000 for Rancatore.

The nation’s heartland, meanwhile, will likely be the site this fall for some of the most expensive open seat battles. Some races to watch, include:
Democrats Hold a Cash Advantage in Open Seat Races

• Minnesota 3: Democrat Ashwin Madia, an Iraq vet, and Republican state Sen. Erik Paulsen each hauled in large sums of cash in the second quarter. Madia ended June with $738,000 in the bank while Paulsen closed with $1.1 million.

• Ohio 15: Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy and Republican state Sen. Steve Stivers are poised to pour millions into their race to replace Republican Rep. Deborah Pryce . Kilroy reported $1.2 million and Stivers reported $880,000 in cash at the end of the month.

• Illinois 11: Republican executive Martin Ozinga has been hustling to catch up to Democrat Debbie Halvorson. At the moment, Halvorson leads the way with $917,000 in cash, but Ozinga, who didn’t enter the race until the spring, closed the month with $670,000.

Greg Giroux, Marie Horrigan and Rachel Kapochunas contributed to this story.

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