Swing State Project has put together a chart showing the fundraising and cash on hand numbers for most of the competitive races in the House. It’s cool because you can track which races have primaries and how the challengers are doing financially. You can also see which incumbents have pretty much abandoned fundraising…a sure sign they plan on retiring. For example, Dennis Hastert only has $76 thousand dollars on hand…roughly half what his three Democratic opponents have raised. Rick Renzi and John Doolittle look resigned to their fates, having just 20K and 74K on hand, respectively. Here’s a little breakdown:
- Republican challengers who outraised Democratic incumbents: Jim Ryun (KS-02) and Andrew Saul (NY-19).
- Democratic challengers who outraised Republican incumbents: Charlie Brown (CA-04), Russ Warner (CA-26), Jim Himes (CT-04), Michael Montagano (IN-03), Frank Kratovil (MD-01), Andrew Duck (MD-06), David Nacht (MI-07), Kay Barnes (MO-06), Eric Massa (NY-29), Vic Wulsin & Steve Black (OH-02), John Boccieri (OH-16), Darcy Burner (WA-08). Go Team Blue!
- Republican incumbents who were out-raised by other Republicans: Wayne Gilchrest (MD-01) and Ralph Regula (OH-16).
- Democratic incumbents who were out-raised by other Democrats: Steve Cohen (TN-09).
The money keeps rolling in to the Democrats. And not only to the candidates. The DCCC is just crushing their Republican counterpart.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee outraised the National Republican Congressional Committee for the second straight quarter, and has nearly 10 times the cash on hand of its Republican counterpart.
That 10-1 advantage translates to a $19 to $2 million COH advantage. These days the party of big money is strictly small-time.