Over the past few weeks, I’ve been spending a bit of time doing research into independent expenditures made by party committees and independent PACs to get a better sense of how the IE battle played out in many key races across the country. One of the things that I thought would be interesting to share with you all is a top ten list, for both our side and theirs, of the biggest non-party committee expenditures of the cycle for House races. Here’s what the Republican-allied side looks like:
| District | Candidate | Committee | For/Against | Total Expenditures |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KY-03 | NORTHUP, ANNE | NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS PAC | For | $1,004,275.00 |
| NM-01 | WILSON, HEATHER | NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS PAC | For | $761,734.00 |
| ID-01 | GRANT, LARRY | CLUB FOR GROWTH INC PAC | Against | $441,437.17 |
| CT-05 | JOHNSON, NANCY | AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION PAC | For | $318,426.00 |
| FL-22 | SHAW, CLAY | AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION PAC | For | $202,179.00 |
| GA-06 | PRICE, THOMAS | PAC OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF ORTHOPAEDIC SURGEONS | For | $200,000.00 |
| AZ-08 | GRAF, RANDY | MINUTEMAN PAC INC | For | $115,482.80 |
| CT-05 | JOHNSON, NANCY | PAC OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF ORTHOPAEDIC SURGEONS | For | $100,000.00 |
| FL-08 | KELLER, RIC | NATIONAL RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION PAC | For | $100,000.00 |
| IA-01 | WHALEN, MIKE | NATIONAL RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION PAC | For | $100,000.00 |
And here’s what our side looks like:
| District | Candidate | Committee | For/Against | Total Expenditures |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OH-01 | CHABOT, STEVE | AMERICAN FEDERATION OF STATE COUNTY & MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES | Against | $620,670.00 |
| OH-15 | PRYCE, DEBORAH | AMERICAN FEDERATION OF STATE COUNTY & MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES | Against | $530,425.00 |
| VA-02 | DRAKE, THELMA | MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION | Against | $529,537.70 |
| CT-05 | JOHNSON, NANCY | AMERICAN FEDERATION OF STATE COUNTY & MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES | Against | $514,354.00 |
| AZ-05 | HAYWORTH, JD | NEA FUND FOR CHILDREN AND PUBLIC EDUCATION | Against | $480,763.99 |
| CA-11 | POMBO, RICHARD | DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE ACTION FUND | Against | $470,004.36 |
| IL-08 | BEAN, MELISSA | NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE | For | $465,568.00 |
| CT-05 | JOHNSON, NANCY | MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION | Against | $444,424.00 |
| OH-15 | PRYCE, DEBORAH | MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION | Against | $417,623.00 |
| PA-10 | SHERWOOD, DON | AMERICAN FEDERATION OF STATE COUNTY & MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES | Against | $361,750.00 |
Aside from a few big players (most notably the National Realtors PAC, who also made considerable expenditures on behalf of Ed Case‘s primary challenge to Sen. Daniel Akaka, as well as Melissa Bean’s re-election campaign), there is a steep drop-off on the Republican side in terms of the number and quality of IEs relative to the robust and broadly-focused expenditures made by Democratic-allied PACs. Another thing to note is that these Republican expenditures are listed as disproportionately positive, while the Democratic expenditures were disproportionately classified as negative expenditures. Keep in mind, though, that such homogenous categories may betray the shades of grey that exist in such expenditures–this money could have been spent on advertising that contained a mix of positive and negative messages, but the particular committee may have chosen to file an expenditure as “for” a candidate rather than “against” someone else.
I’m still puttering around with a lot more numbers like these, so if anyone has any other research suggestions under the category of expenditures, please feel free to make a suggestion.
Wow, look at all the outside money in CT-05. 3 of the 20 were used for her. Quite a bit of change these guys are playing with.
She faced off against 900k+ in expenditures from unions and Moveon, the DCCC, a tough opponent, a tough climate to be a Republican, an even tougher climate to be an Ohio Republican, and the Mark Foley scandal and she won.
In terms of opponent weaknesses, Heather Wilson had the “Madrid Debate moment,” Jim Gerlach had Lois Murphy’s easy to attack positions, Dave Reichert had an inexperienced opponent,
but what did Deborah Pryce have?
Is she superwoman?
of NRCC money that had been originally intended for OH-18 into negative ads combined with the mistake of our side of going positive in the last week. Also, Pryce turned out just enough of her base in the two rural counties to cover our advantage in western Franklin County (basically west Columbus and suburbs)
In a presidential year with a democratic sec. of state making sure the urban areas actually have the voting machines they need, we can take this seat.
James L.,
As a former elected official I will tell you that I.E.s
quite often coordinate with each other for election efforts. Sometimes top ten does not tell the whole story but the cumulative effect of a number of different I.E.s can put someone over the top or over the edge.
against Sue Kelly not show up? Adam Rose (again) is the wealthy gay guy who got pissed about the FMA and dropped a half-million on Sue Kelly, via Majority Action, in the last two months of the campaign. John Hall only spent a million or so on his own.
Theres a Salon article called — There is a gay agenda, winning elections — that documents this. Certain keys on my computer are wigging out right now, including control+v, so i cant paste the link. Sorry.