Congressional Fundraising Continues To Trail 2000 Levels
| For Immediate Release May 28, 2002 |
Contact: |
Bob Biersack Ron Harris Ian Stirton Kelly Huff |
CONGRESSIONAL FUNDRAISING CONTINUES TO TRAIL 2000 LEVELS WASHINGTON -- Congressional campaigns raised a total of $430.9 million in the 15 months ending March 31, a decline of 7% from the record levels reached in the 2000 campaign, according to a compilation by the Federal Election Commission. The Commission found that 1,598 Senate and House candidates spent $226.4 million from January 1, 2001 through March 31, 2002 (down 10% from 2000), and reported cash on hand of $330.8 million (up 4%) at the end of the first quarter. The following table summarizes Congressional campaign finance activity during comparable periods since 1990.
The financial decline is largely confined to the Senate, where candidates in this cycle’s 34 Senate races reported receipts of $145.3 million, disbursements of $63.1 million, and cash balances of $99.7 million. This represents a 17% decline in fundraising and a 26% decline in spending from the 2000 cycle. Comparisons across election cycles are particularly difficult for Senate races, however, because the states involved vary and because a few campaigns can significantly affect totals. For example, in 2000 there were five Senate campaigns with receipts greater than the largest 2002 campaign. Three of those (Giuliani, Clinton, and Corzine) were more than twice the top Senate fundraiser for the current cycle (Jean Carnahan, D-MO, with receipts of $5.6 million). Fundraising in House campaigns increased by 45% between 1998 and 2000 and has remained at approximately that level during the early stages of the 2002 campaign. Current campaigns raised $285.5 million (down 1% from 2000 levels) and spent $163.3 million (2% below previous cycle totals). They reported a cash balance of $231.1 million as of March 31. Changes have taken place among different types of House campaigns, however, with challengers from both parties experiencing declines in fundraising which were largely offset by increases for both Republican and Democratic incumbents and Democratic open seat candidates. Tables appearing on p. 7 confirm these changes, with median receipts for House Democratic challengers of $34,794 -- less than half the value for the same type of candidates in 2000. Moreover, the number of House challengers who reported receipts of at least $50,000 through the first quarter of the election year dropped from 172 in 2000 to 110 in 2002, the smallest number since 1994. Contributions from individuals totaled $250.6 million and continue to be the largest source of receipts for Congressional candidates, representing 58.2% of all fundraising as of March 31. PAC contributions totaled $121.1 million or 28.1% while candidates themselves contributed or loaned a total of $37.8 million which was 8.8% of all receipts. Tables attached to this release offer summary data for Senate and House candidates by political party, as well as by candidate status (incumbent, challenger, or open seat). Also included are rankings of Senate and House candidates for the following categories: receipts, individual contributions, PAC and other committee contributions, disbursements, cash-on-hand, and debts owed. Six-year financial summaries of Senate candidates for 2002, as well as current cycle financial summaries for each House campaign are also attached. Financial information on House special elections is listed separately. This release and the data contained in it are also available on the FEC’s web site at http://www.fec.gov under News Releases or Campaign Finance Reports and Data. Footnotes 1. Figures in the first two tables and the detailed listings of candidates cover from January 1, 2001, or whenever the campaign registered during the year, through March 31, 2002 or the last report filed by the campaign as indicated. 2. Net receipt and net disbursement figures are total receipts and total disbursements, as reported by the campaigns, minus any money transferred between committees of the same campaign. 3. Columns entitled "contrib from other cmtes" are moneys contributed to campaigns by PACs and other committees as reported by the campaigns. Other committees include primarily committees of other candidates. 4. On the Senate listings, the column titled "candidate support" includes contributions by the candidate as well as loans made or guaranteed by the candidate. The column titled "trans from other auth" includes moneys transferred from House committees of candidates for the Senate, as well as proceeds from joint fundraising activity among several candidates or committees. Contributions from individuals and PACs made through these joint fundraising efforts are NOT included in the "individual contributions" or "other cmte contributions" columns. 5. Open seat races are those in which the incumbent did not seek reelection. 6. Detailed listings of candidates include all those House candidates who reported receipts before March 31, 2002. 7. Some House members who are or were running for the Senate in 2002 changed their former House campaign committees into their Senate campaign committees. Financial activity related solely to their Senate campaigns cannot be isolated. (See Chambliss [GA], Thune [SD], and Warren [NC]). 8. Party abbreviations in the listing of House campaigns are: blockquote
9. Several candidates report significant debts at least some of which were incurred in previous election cycles. These include; blockquoteJames Humphreys (WV) Tables The tables in [HTML] format can be read using your web browser. The [EXCEL] files are workbooks that can be read using Excel from Microsoft.
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