Swing State Project

« AZ-Sen: Kyl Swamping Pederson | Main | CA-Gov: Arnold's Opponents Lose a Little Ground »

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

House Dems: Pay Your DCCC Dues!

Posted by DavidNYC

This, my friends, is unacceptable:

Democratic House Members anted up more than $11 million in dues to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 2005, but there remain 21 Caucus members who have not contributed a dime in the 2006 cycle and 13 others who have given less than 10 percent of what the DCCC is seeking from them.

While the numbers suggest that Democrats are making progress toward compliance, they are still $20 million short of the $32.1 million they would reap if every member meets his or her obligations.

...

In addition to Rep. Rahm Emanuel (Ill.), the DCCC’s chairman, just four of the 201 Democrats have paid in full: Reps. Nita Lowey (N.Y.), Steve Israel (N.Y.), Bill Delahunt (Mass.) and Tom Udall (N.M.). (Emphasis added.)

This is, as I say, just a totally unacceptable state of affairs. We need the DCCC to be flush if we want to compete - and yet House Dems have only contributed one-third of the total they are obligated to pay in. It's rarely my style to go after fellow Dems, but come ON, people! We need to be team players on this one. So I'm going to call out the deadbeats, as listed by Roll Call:

Rep.	District	$ Given	$ Due	Committee	Warchest
Jesse Jackson, Jr.	IL-02	$0	$150K	Appropriations	$1.1M
José Serrano	NY-16	$0	$150K	Appropriations	$46K
Sherrod Brown	OH-13	$64K	$250K	Commerce	$2M
Jim Davis	FL-11	$0	$150K	Commerce	$27K
Ted Strickland	OH-06	$0	$150K	Commerce	$498K
Edolphus Towns	NY-10	$0	$150K	Commerce	$221K
Julia Carson	IN-07	$0	$150K	Financial Services	$271K
Emanuel Cleaver	MO-05	<10%	$150K	Financial Services	$194K
Harold Ford	TN-09	$0	$150K	Financial Services	$1.7M
Darlene Hooley	OR-05	$0	$150K	Financial Services	$548K
Gregory Meeks	NY-06	<10%	$150K	Financial Services	$146K
Brad Miller	NC-13	$0	$150K	Financial Services	$210K
Ben Cardin	MD-03	$0	$150K	Ways & Means	$299K*
Pete Stark	CA-13	$1K	$150K	Ways & Means	$400K
Robert Brady	PA-01	$0	$100K		$841K
Tim Holden	PA-17	$0	$100K		$329K
Jim Marshall	GA-03	$0	$100K		$626K
Ike Skelton	MO-04	$5K	$100K		$600K

Now, a few things: First, I'm sure these aren't the only Dem reps who are short on their dues - they're simply the ones listed by Roll Call. If you come across any reputable sources which indicate that there are other Dems who are in arrears, let me know, and I'll add them to this list. Also I'm not saying that any of these guys are bad people - they just need to fulfill their obligations.

So, to that end, if you live in any of these districts, call & e-mail your reps and politely ask them to pay what they owe the DCCC. Take a look at those warchests - for many, this is couch change, so there are no excuses. That a well-funded D-Trip benefits us all is so obvious as to be not even worth mentioning.

(A couple of notes about the table: 1) Members on five select committees - the four listed here plus the Rules Committee - are required to pay extra. 2) Warchests reflect cash-on-hand as of 9/30/05, except for Jesse Jackson, Jr., whose cash-on-hand figures are current as of 12/31/05. 3) Ben Cardin's total cash-on-hand is unclear, as his House and Senate campaign committees reflect different totals. His Senate committee shows a cash-on-hand of $1.5M. 4) The "amount due" that I list for each member is based either on specific Roll Call figures or on general DCCC dues rules. Where I have employed the latter, some of my numbers may be off, probably to the low side.)

P.S. Dennis Kucinich was also mentioned by Roll Call, but from the article's language, it wasn't clear how much he had already given, so I did not include him in the table.

Posted at 10:34 PM in 2006 Elections - House, Activism, Democrats | Technorati

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.swingstateproject.com/mt/mt-track-ssp.cgi/2109

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference House Dems: Pay Your DCCC Dues!:

» Sherrod Brown: Deadbeat Dem from Ohio 2nd
What could be a more fitting post after complaining about the DCCC's performance in the 2nd special then one taking Sherrod Brown to task for being behind in his DCCC dues to the tune of $250,000. Kos wonders if perhaps if Congressmen like Sherrod Brow... [Read More]

Tracked on January 25, 2006 09:12 AM

Comments

Hm post of those Reps. seem to either be running for the Senate or are from strong red district though i see a few solid blues that haven't done much. Even if you are running for the Senate or are from a strong red district it doesn't seem like a good excuse.

Posted by: D in FL. at January 25, 2006 12:46 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Sheesh.

Don't these guys want to be part of a MAJORITY caucus for a change?

Posted by: HellofaSandwich at January 25, 2006 01:17 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Towns and Meeks both have won their last two elections with 90+% and never face any real challenges. There is no reason for them to have any sizable warchest and not be giving to the DCCC.

Posted by: jonahinnyc at January 25, 2006 09:49 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

The only people the DCCC exempts from dues are 10 "frontline" Dems - ie, the most vulnerable members. (Probably mostly freshmen like Herseth, etc.)

If the DCCC felt that running for Senate, or being in a very red district, was a legit excuse, I'm sure they'd create a new exemption - or at least work with particular Dems to set lower dues in individual cases (or ask them to give more at a time they are less pressed).

Posted by: DavidNYC at January 25, 2006 01:16 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Jim Davis is leaving the House after a decade of service. He is a leading candidate running for Governor of Florida.

I support what you're doing here, but calling him out for not paying his DCCC dues is unfair. I am sure the DCCC does not want him talking money away from his campaign for Governor.

Posted by: FLDem at January 25, 2006 07:15 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

FLDem: As I say, I included everyone mentioned by Roll Call, except Kucinich (as the language concerning him was too ambiguous). At the end of the day, you are probably right - the DCCC should make exceptions for people seeking higher office.

Posted by: DavidNYC at January 25, 2006 08:00 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Darlene Hooley is considered by many to be the eleventh most vulnerable Dem in the House of Representatives. Last cycle she was a Frontline candidate and if a credible Republican candidate targeted her seat again in 2006 she would likely again be placed in the Frontline program.

Last cycle she faced a self-funding millionaire in the general election who spent nearly $1.3 million ($400k of his own money) on the race. He has signaled his intent to run once again in 06 and is clearly not shy about spending his own millions.

The first step in building a majority is to hold on to the seats you have already won.

Hooley sits in a district that has gone twice for Bush and supported the right-wing Republican candidate for governor in 2002. In summary, it's the epitome of a swing district. It makes no sense to pay dues to the DCCC if they have to turn right back around and spend that money in the 5th CD to protect her. A sizeable war chest is a credible deterrent to any would be opponents and important to protecting any vulnerable incumbent.

Posted by: OregonDem05 at January 26, 2006 05:33 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

In fairness, Hooley's district went for Bush by one point in each of the last two elections, and she won by 9 points last time out.

However, I agree: The more I think about it, the less I like the D-Trip's formulas for dues.

Posted by: DavidNYC at January 26, 2006 11:04 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

FLDem/DavidNYC:

Exceptions should be made, but I'd be in favor of a much more nuanced policy than simply exempting those seeking higher office (not that I'd disagree with exempting Davis at this point); it might not make party sense to take a hit when someone with independent resources and a strong base is in a campaign they're likely to win.

Posted by: shimamoto at January 27, 2006 05:18 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

With as bad as Emanuel's been, Dems should keep their money. The DCCC provides no support to challenger candidates & has no intention of becoming the Majority again. There are quite a few CDs with GOP incumbents that the DCCC doesn't care about. Emanuel's denying support to the challengers. IL-06 is a total debacle since he doesn't like Progressives.

Giving money to the DCCC is a total waste. The organization is a proven failure.

Posted by: Philosophe Forum at January 28, 2006 11:38 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment