Political Party Fundraising Continues to Climb

POLITICAL PARTY FUNDRAISING CONTINUES TO CLIMB

WASHINGTON - Democratic and Republican parties raised $628 million through late November for both their federal and non-federal accounts, according to a post-election analysis by the Federal Election Commission. This represents a 41% increase when compared to the same period in the last mid-term election of 1994.

Republicans continue to outpace Democrats in overall fundraising. From

January 1, 1997, through November 23, 1998, Republican Party committees raised $385 million in both hard (federal) and soft (non-federal) dollars while Democratic committees reported $243 million in receipts. The following table provides a summary:

Regarding federal activity, Democrats raised $153.4 million and spent $147.6 million while Republicans had $273.6 million in receipts and $265.4 million in disbursements. When compared to 1993-94, the last mid-term election, Democrats registered increases in receipts of $32.3 million, a 27% gain, and a spending increase of $28.7 million, a 24 % gain. Republicans reported a $50 million increase in receipts, up 22%, while spending grew $51 million, or 24%. Democrats had cash-on-hand of $5.5 million and debts of $13 million. Republicans reported $9.2 million in cash and $9.1 million in debts.

In federal candidate support, the Democratic Party contributed $2.8 million and spent $18.2 million in coordinated expenditures on behalf of candidates. They also spent $1.5 million in independent expenditures for or against federal candidates. The Republican Party contributed $3.6 million to federal candidates and spent $14.4 million in coordinated expenditures and made independent expenditures of $283,182.

Both parties showed substantial increases in the amount of nonfederal or "soft money" raised when compared to the last mid-term election. Republican "soft money" accounts raised $111.3 million, a 112% increase over 1993-94, while Democratic nonfederal accounts collected $89.4 million, an 82% increase.

Charts attached to this release provide comparable data for four previous election cycles. The next report for this election cycle is the year-end report, due January 31, covering financial activity from November 24, 1998, through December 31, 1998.

This release and the data contained in it are also available on the FEC’s webpage at http://www.fec.gov.

Democratic Party Federal Activity

Republican Party Federal Activity

Democratic Party Nonfederal Activity

Republican Party Nonfederal Activity

Soft Money Overview

National Committee Transfers to State/Local Parties

Congressional Committee Transfers to State/Local Parties