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Update: 2014 Election: 5 things we found in the congressional campaign spending reports
With two weeks to go until election day, it never hurts to peek at campaign spending records to see how much Congressional candidates are raising and where that money is going. The Federal Election Commission just published the latest quarterly numbers and here’s what we found inside of them:
1. It helps when you’re the number two guy and in the majority party
Of course, life wasn’t so bad when you were the number three guy, either.
The Number-two House Republican, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield, is the top California fundraiser, raking in more than $5.1 million for his re-election campaign. Two years ago, when McCarthy was the Number-three House Republican, the House Whip, he had raised $4.3 million by this time in the campaign.
McCarthy, of course, doesn’t need the money for his own race. He won his June primary with 99% of the vote. But House leaders like McCarthy are expected to share their campaign cash with fellow lawmakers.
McCarthy out-raised the top House Democrat, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, by nearly two to one. She’s raised $2.3 million this election cycle. The Number-three Democrat in the House, Caucus Chairman Xavier Becerra of Los Angeles, has raised $1.7 million.
The dollar amounts don’t take into account these lawmakers’ leadership PACs or the amount raised for the national parties themselves. The GOP won't say how much McCarthy raised; the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee reports that Pelosi has raised $50.6 million for them so far.
2. Chairmanships matter
Kevin McCarthy isn’t the only California GOP lawmaker with deep political pockets. Darrell Issa, chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee has raised nearly $3.5 million and Ed Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has raised nearly $2.9 million.
Neither lawmaker is in a tough race.
3. Tough races are expensive
There are five California Congressional races that have already topped the $3 million mark.
- The most expensive race is in San Diego, where the candidates have raised more than $6 million. That doesn’t take into account independent expenditures by political action committees. Freshman Democrat Scott Peters has raised nearly $3.5 million to fend off GOP challenger Carl DeMaio, who has raised $2.9 million.
- Up in Sacramento, freshman Democrat Ami Bera has raised nearly $3.5 million dollars; his GOP challenger Doug Ose has raised $2.6 million.
- It’s Democrat vs. Democrat in San Jose. Seven-term Congressman Mike Honda has been outspent by his Democratic challenger Ro Khanna: Honda’s raised $2.9 million, Khanna’s raised $3.1 million.
- In Ventura, freshman Democrat Julia Brownley has raised nearly $2.8 million; her GOP challenger Jeff Gorell has raised just over a million.
- And up in the Central Valley, incumbent Republican Congressman David Valadao has raised $2.4 million; his Democratic challenger Amanda Renteria has raised $1.4 million.
4. If you represent a poor district, you have to get your money elsewhere
Democrat Grace Napolitano represents communities in the San Gabriel Valley where the per capita income in communities like Baldwin Park and Azusa is less than $20,000 a year. She's raised just $62,000 this election cycle from individual contributions. Some 78% of her campaign cash comes from political action committees, ranging from the nurses’ union to the beer lobby. Even the Office of the Commissioner of Major League Baseball PAC contributed to the campaign of the woman who’s been the star pitcher for the charitable Congressional Women’s Softball Game for years.
Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher got very little campaign cash from political action committees - about $29,000. He represents Huntington Beach, where the Census Bureau reports the per capita income is $42,000 a year. Nearly all of his campaign donations - 96% - came from individual donors.
5. If you retire from Congress, you don’t have to fundraise anymore--but some do anyway
- Henry Waxman, who’s served in Congress for four decades, leaves the House of Representatives having raised exactly nothing in this last quarter before election day.
- Irvine Republican John Campbell is also retiring from Congress. He raised $2,000 this quarter.
- Fellow GOP retiree Gary Miller of San Bernardino raised $911.
- Buck McKeon, chairman of the powerful House Armed Services Committee, raised $95.
- Freshman Democrat Gloria Negrete McLeod also raised nothing this quarter--at least for a Congressional campaign. Instead she's raising money for her run for San Bernardino County supervisor.
There's likely to be a surge in contributions these last two weeks in those hotly contested races. For those retiring, they get to consider which candidate or charitable group they'd like to bestow with their leftover campaign cash. The one thing the FEC won't let them do is give it to themselves.
Contributions as of October 2014
Name & District | Total $ Raised | $ this Quarter | $ On Hand |
---|---|---|---|
Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) | $960,000 | $184,000 | $347,000 |
Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles) | $1,733,000 | $1,460,000 | $376,000 |
Julia Brownley (D-Ventura) | $2,775,000 | $751,000 | $896,000 |
Jeff Gorell (R-Candidate) | $1,068,000 | $408,000 | $338,000 |
Ken Calvert (R-Riverside) | $1,091,000 | $169,000 | $486,000 |
John Campbell (R-Irvine) | $248,000 | $2,000 | $208,000 |
Mimi Walters (R-Candidate) | $1,296,000 | $316,000 | $194,000 |
Drew Leavens (D-Candidate) | $82,000 | $31,000 | $8,000 |
Tony Cardenas (D-Los Angeles) | $884,000 | $216,000 | $200,000 |
Judy Chu (D-El Monte) | $1,000,000 | $303,000 | $1,665,000 |
Paul Cook (R-Barstow, Big Bear) | $738,000 | $106,000 | $504,000 |
Janice Hahn (D-Carson) | $652,000 | $126,000 | $221,000 |
Darrell Issa (R-Vista) | $3,457,000 | $376,000 | $3,567,000 |
Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) | $775,000 | $141,000 | $405,000 |
Buck McKeon (R-Santa Clarita) | $504,000 | $95 | $322,000 |
Steve Knight (R-Candidate) | $299,000 | $112,000 | $70,000 |
Tony Strickland (R-Candidate) | $1,598,000 | $334,000 | $391,000 |
Gary Miller (R-San Bernardino) | $854,000 | $911 | $707,000 |
Paul Chabot (R-Candidate) | $396,000 | $231,000 | $152,000 |
Pete Aguilar (D-Candidate) | $1,835,000 | $507,000 | $293,000 |
Grace Napolitano (D-El Monte) | $308,000 | $45,000 | $322,000 |
Gloria Negrete McLeod (D-Montclair) | $138,000 | $0 | $9,000 |
Norma Torres (D-Candidate) | $327,000 | $100,000 | $83,000 |
Christina Gagnier (R-Candidate) | $75,000 | $38,000 | $625 |
Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) | $709,000 | $58,000 | $227,000 |
Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Los Angeles) | $428,000 | $86,000 | $89,000 |
Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) | $2,891,000 | $436,000 | $1,926,000 |
Raul Ruiz (D-Palm Springs) | $3,117,000 | $643,000 | $1,624,000 |
Linda Sanchez (D-Lakewood) | $1,136,000 | $147,000 | $447,000 |
Loretta Sanchez (D-Anaheim) | $1,203,000 | $211,000 | $491,000 |
Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) | $775,000 | $136,000 | $2,061,000 |
Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks) | $1,221,000 | $171,000 | $95,000 |
Mark Takano (D-Riverside) | $1,203,000 | $180,000 | $404,000 |
Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) | $1,098,000 | $180,000 | $405,000 |
Henry Waxman (D-Los Angeles) | $893,000 | $0 | $520,000 |
Ted Lieu (D-Candidate) | $1,800,000 | $537,000 | $478,000 |
Elan Carr (R-Candidate) | $1,244,000 | $365,000 | $48,000 |
Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) | $5,174,000 | $984,000 | $2,600,000 |
Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) | $2,334,000 | $381,000 | $842,000 |