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Update: 2014 Election: 5 things we found in the congressional campaign spending reports

ST. PAUL, MN - SEPTEMBER 01:  U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) speaks on day one of the Republican National Convention (RNC) at the Xcel Energy Center September 1, 2008 in St. Paul, Minnesota. The GOP will nominate U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) as the Republican choice for U.S. President on the last day of the convention.  (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
McCarthy is king when it comes to raising campaign cash: he outraised Nancy Pelosi by nearly two to one. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
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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.

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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.

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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