Democrats add aggressively to 2010 election coffers

[Confederate Kahanist]

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63H1VF20100418?feedType=RSS&feedName=politicsNews&rpc=22&sp=true




(Reuters) - Congressional Democrats facing competitive re-election bids added aggressively to their financial war chests in early 2010, girding themselves for an expected onslaught from Republicans and special-interest groups, analysts and official documents said.

Barack Obama

In the House of Representatives, some freshman Democrats targeted by Republicans for their support for healthcare reform ended the first quarter with cash reserves at or near the $1.4 million mark that was the average price tag for a House seat in 2008, Federal Election Commission disclosure documents showed.

Rep. Tom Perriello of Virginia raised $587,000 to end the January-March period with $1.4 million in cash, while fellow freshman Rep. Betsy Markey of Colorado built up a $1.3 million war chest by collecting just over $500,000 from donors.

In the Senate, vulnerable Democrats ended the quarter with huge cash reserves, some approaching $10 million.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, whom Republicans have vowed to oust from office, ended the first quarter with $9.4 million in cash on hand after raising $1.8 million -- more than three times as much as his closest would-be Republican rival.

Democrats Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania both fell behind their rivals in fundraising but retained much larger cash reserves.

FEC disclosure data released late last week provide a snapshot of campaign fundraising as House and Senate races approach primary elections that will choose each party's nominees and set the stage for the November general election battle for Congress.

HIGH-SPENDING RACES

"What we seeing are incumbents, particularly on the Democratic side in the House, expecting a difficult election season. Therefore, they've put a premium on early fundraising," said Anthony Corrado of Colby College in Maine, a leading expert on political finance.

"There's a push to build up war chests either to discourage challengers or at least be in a position to be able to match the type of high-spending race they expect in the fall."

All 435 members of the House and one-third of the 100-seat Senate are up for re-election this year.

Republicans hope to make gains in both the House and Senate in part by capitalizing on anti-incumbent voter sentiment in competitive congressional districts represented by Democratic lawmakers.

Analysts say Democrats could also be the main targets of a potential surge in special-interest money sparked by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allows companies and unions to finance campaigns that favor or oppose specific candidates.

Democrats could be most vulnerable in the House, where Republicans need to pick up about 40 seats to win control of the chamber. Fifty-nine Democrats face competitive races there, according to the Cook Political Report.

Meanwhile, Republicans have six vulnerable incumbents, according to Cook. But vulnerable Republicans appear to have built up less of a fund-raising advantage so far. In Pennsylvania, Republican Jim Gerlach raised over $500,000 to end the first-quarter with $336,000 in cash, while Democrat Douglas Pike raised less but had a cash reserve of $1.2 million.

"Fundraising by Democrats is like putting plywood over the windows of your house because you know a big hurricane's coming. Republicans think they're going to be in the eye of the storm," said Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute.

Embattled Republican Senator Robert Bennett of Utah, who faces strong opposition from his own party and conservative Tea Party activists, raised $739,000 in the first quarter. That gave him a cash war chest of $1.1 million. Overall, Bennett has raised about $2.7 million in the current election cycle so far.

Analysts have begun combing through the campaign finance data for any sign that corporate donors may be shifting away from Democrats in response to Obama's healthcare reform and prospects for new financial and climate change regulations.

The Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan watchdog group that tracks money in politics, says Democrats received about 57 percent of all campaign donations in the current election cycle as of December 31. By contrast, Republicans claimed about 62 percent of campaign donations just before they lost control of Congress in 2006.