Retiring Dems Hoard $33 Million As Their Party Is in Need

There’s one silver lining for party committees when it comes to retirements: Departing incumbents typically have a bundle of scrilla saved up that they can, if they’re so inclined, donate in bulk to their party’s House and Senate campaign arms. (They can also make normal, FEC-limited donations to other campaigns, or give the money to charity.) With all the retirements on both sides, there’s a lot of money floating out there, so let’s take a look at who’s got the bucks.

First up, the House. We’ve compiled cash-on-hand figures for all members who are not running for re-election or have resigned this cycle, with one exception (more on that below):


































































































District Incumbent Status CoH
AL-07 Artur Davis Running for governor $42,889
AR-01 Marion Berry Retiring $572,803
AR-02 Vic Snyder Retiring $4,182
CA-10 Ellen Tauscher Resigned $0
CA-32 Hilda Solis Resigned $227,097
CA-33 Diane Watson Retiring $72,727
FL-19 Robert Wexler Resigned $637,967
HI-01 Neil Abercrombie Running for governor $453,188
IL-05 Rahm Emanuel Resigned $1,179,094
KS-03 Dennis Moore Retiring $443,115
RI-01 Patrick Kennedy Retiring $451,740
TN-06 Bart Gordon Retiring $1,239,633
TN-08 John Tanner Retiring $1,421,767
WA-03 Brian Baird Retiring $551,665
Total: $7,297,867

We haven’t listed members running for Senate because they can (and generally do) transfer all of their House money over to their Senate campaigns. However, depending on state law, members running for other office (such as governor) may or may not be able to port over their House warchests. Two Dems fall into that category. As you can surmise from the CoH totals, Alabama law permitted Artur Davis to switch his federal money over to his state account.

Neil Abercrombie wasn’t so lucky. He had hoped to do the same, but a state committee barred him from doing so back in August. Abercrombie has managed to whittle his account down by half since then (he has refunded many of his donors’ contributions), but if he’s looking to do his colleagues in the House a solid, he can give the balance to the DCCC.

A special comment must be made here about ex-Rep. Robert Wexler, who announced back in October that he was stepping down from Congress in order to pursue other opportunities. At the end of September, Wexler had nearly a million dollars in the bank. Since then, he went on a $310,000 spending spree, rewarding consultants, pollsters, fundraisers, and other campaign associates with some very generous payments. Wexler did give a handful of donations to some of his former colleagues, but he failed to give a dime to the DCCC. Robert Wexler is shamefully letting his party down by not putting his ample campaign account to productive use at his party’s greatest hour of need. If he doesn’t want this to become a permanent black mark on his record, this attitude needs to change.

That said, let’s not let Rahm Emanuel off the hook, either – he’s hoarding over a million bucks in his dormant House account, no doubt waiting to use that nest egg for an eventual return to elected office. But if Rahm is serious about serving his President’s agenda, he might want to consider cutting a generous check to DCCC. In a year like this, we can’t afford to have guys like Rahm holding back. Does Rahm Emanuel even care about retaining control of the House of Representatives?

House Republicans:



























































































District Incumbent Status CoH
AZ-03 John Shadegg Retiring $111,903
CA-19 George Radanovich Retiring $192,558
FL-12 Adam Putnam Running for FL Ag. Comm’r $38,289
FL-21 Lincoln Diaz-Balart Retiring $259,473
GA-09 Nathan Deal Running for governor $0
IN-04 Steve Buyer Retiring $400,069
MI-02 Peter Hoekstra Running for governor $33,385
MI-03 Vern Ehlers Retiring $489,646
NY-23 John McHugh Resigned $124,572
OK-05 Mary Fallin Running for governor $84,084
SC-01 Henry Brown Retiring $724,324
SC-03 Gresham Barrett Running for governor $268,121
TN-03 Zach Wamp Running for governor $222,931
Total: $2,949,355

Republicans have slimmer pickings, but that still adds up to nearly $3 million that the NRCC would love to poach out of these idle accounts. Let’s hope these members take after Rahm!

Senate Dems:





































State Senator Status CoH
CO Ken Salazar Resigned $1,320,792
CT Chris Dodd Retiring $3,439,831
IL Roland Burris Retiring $1,938
IN Evan Bayh Retiring $12,987,399
ND Byron Dorgan Retiring $4,226,616
NY Hillary Clinton Resigned $3,637,036
Total: $25,613,612

Yep – $25.6 million (including Clinton’s presidential account), with the biggest chunk of that coming from Evan Bayh. You’d think that Bayh, after putting his party in a bind with his surprise retirement decision, might feel compelled to share some of his resources to the DSCC, but the man is a notorious miser. Perhaps this time, though, he can be shamed into making a meaningful contribution to the Democratic cause.

Senate Republicans:
















































State Senator Status CoH
FL Resigned Mel Martinez $317,422
KS Running for governor Sam Brownback $4,547
KY Retiring Jim Bunning $422,122
MO Retiring Kit Bond $575,860
NH Retiring Judd Gregg $752,956
OH Retiring George Voinovich $1,622,168
Total: $3,695,075

While the Republicans have less to work with there, $3.7 million isn’t exactly chump change. The bottom line, though, is that Democrats are facing an incredibly tough election environment, and departing House & Senate Dems are sitting on an enormous $33 million stockpile. They need to help their party now.

36 thoughts on “Retiring Dems Hoard $33 Million As Their Party Is in Need”

  1. Can Bayh use that for a gubernatorial run? And I thought Hillary’s presidential campaign left her in deep debt. What happened there?

  2. Not sure of the others but Ken Salazar and H Clinton are both current cabinet members. My impression is that cabinet members generally aren’t involved in politics. I don’t know if Pres Obama has different rules for them or not. Its especially difficult for Sec Clinton to do anything even remotely political without the media going crazy looking for what it all means. But the others- Dodd, Bayh, Dorgan- should help out if they can legally. Of course its still possible that they may be looking at future contests and want the money they’ve raised for themselves.    

  3. At the end of September, Wexler had nearly a million dollars in the bank. Since then, he went on a $310,000 spending spree, rewarding consultants, pollsters, fundraisers, and other campaign associates with some very generous payments

    I don’t know if one can draw that conclusion unless the numbers are severely dissimilar from what the professionals were paid in prior cycles.

  4. Here’s my question:

    Senator Menendez, Congressman Van Hollen, what are y’all doing to collect this money?

  5. should start fundraising for once and transfer it to the DCCC/DSCC as well.  My Twin City reps, Reps. Ellison and McCollum both could easily raise an extra $250k to transfer to the committee.

  6. Check the records, man…Rahm has given more money than anyone but Pelosi to the DCCC, to individual Democratic candidates…and to the Democratic Party…

    He has raised and donated millions.   Your criticism is unfounded.

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