Party Committees Report Slight Increase Overall in 2009 Receipts

Party Committees Report Slight Increase Overall in 2009 Receipts

WASHINGTON – The national, state and local committees of the Republican and Democratic parties collected a total of $425.8 million in contributions in the first calendar year of the 2010 election cycle, an increase of 1.5% over the same period in the 2008 election cycle, according to campaign finance disclosure reports filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Republican party committees reported raising $206.2 million in federal funds in 2009, down less than 1% from the $208.3 million they raised in 2007. Their Democratic counterparts reported raising $219.5 million—4% more than the $211.3 million they raised during the same period in the last cycle.

National committees of the major parties are required to submit financial reports on a monthly basis. As a result, it is possible to compare their activity over a 13-month period from January 1, 2009, through January 31, 2010. During this period, the three national committees of the Democratic party—the Democratic National Committee (DNC), the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) —reported raising a total of nearly $202 million. This represents an increase of 6% over the same period in 2007-2008 and 33% over the first 13 months of the 2006 election cycle. The three Republican national party committees—the Republican National Committee (RNC), the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) and the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) —reported raising a combined $188.7 million during the same period. This represents an increase of over 1% from 2007-2008 and a decrease of more than 17% from 2005-2006.

The DSCC and DCCC each reported a decrease in their total receipts compared to the same 13-month period in prior cycles, while the DNC reported an increase. The DSCC and DCCC reported a total of $48.7 and $60.3 million in receipts—a drop of 18% and 16%, respectively, from the last cycle. The DNC raised nearly $93 million through January 31, 2010, representing a 54% increase in receipts from the same period in 2007-2008 and a 52% increase from that period in 2005-2006.

Of the six national party committees, the RNC raised the most, disclosing $101.7 million in receipts, an increase of over 4% from its 13-month total in 2007-2008, but a decrease of almost 15% from its 2005-2006 total for the same period. The NRSC saw its receipts increase by 31% over its 2007-2008 period total, disclosing $46.3 million in receipts. The NRCC reported receiving $40.7 million, a decrease of almost 24% from the amount raised for the same 13-month period in the last cycle.

Additional information for party committees at the state and local level is available through the end of 2009.*

The following chart summarizes financial activity for all national parties in non-election years since 1999. Note that the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA) eliminated all non-federal, or “soft money,” fundraising (such as contributions from corporations or unions or unlimited contributions from individuals) by national party committees. All national party receipts now must comply with federal limits and prohibitions.

(In millions of dollars)

State and local party fundraising is not included in this table.

Tables attached to this release provide details of financial activity in non-election years since 1991.

Individuals, whose limits on contributions to national parties are $30,400 this election cycle, are the largest source of federal funds for party committees. National Republican committees reported receiving $169.1 million from individuals (82% of their receipts) in 2009, while national Democratic committees received $164.4 million (75% of their total). Table 4 breaks down those contributions by size in recent non-election years.The table shows that all national committees receive more contributions in amounts less than $200 than from contributions in any other category.

Political Action Committees (PACs) and other political committees contributed $16.6 million to Republican party committees and $21 million to Democratic party committees in 2009, a decrease of $5.4 million and an increase of $2.5 million, respectively, from their totals in 2007, the most recent comparable year of the two-year election cycle.A large portion of the contributions came from House members’ campaign committees. House Democrats contributed $15.7 million and House Republicans contributed $4.8 million from their campaign accounts to their respective national congressional party committees during 2009. Table 5 provides a list of Democratic House members and their contributions to the DCCC, while Table 6 shows contributions to the NRCC from Republican House members. Tables 7 and 8 show contributions made by Senate members to their respective national senatorial campaign committees.

* State and local party committees are permitted to file reports on a quarterly basis, so the most current information for them covers only calendar year 2009.

Table 1 National Party Financial Activity Through January 31, 2010 [excel] [pdf]

Table 2 Democratic Party Committee Financial Activity Through December 31, 2009 [excel] [pdf]

Table 3 Republican Party Committee Financial Activity Through December 31, 2009 [excel] [pdf]

Table 4 Contributions from Individuals to National Party Committees by Contribution Amount [excel] [pdf]

Table 5 Member Contributions to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee [excel] [pdf]

Table 6 Member Contributions to the National Republican Congressional Committee [excel] [pdf]

Table 7 Member Contributions to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee [excel] [pdf]

Table 8 Member Contributions to the National Republican Senatorial Committee [excel] [pdf]