Congressional Democrats Pull Way Ahead in the Money Race
2007-07-15
Source: New York Times
Their Congressional approval ratings may be sagging, but Democrats in the House and Senate have overwhelmingly outraised their Republican counterparts in the past three months.
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rss feedThe Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee raised $17.6 million from April through June, according to figures to be filed with the Federal Election Commission. The National Republican Senatorial Committee reported raising $8.6 million in the same period.
A snapshot of the disparity between the fund-raising of the two parties, which has also played out in the presidential race, was underscored by the figures for the month of June. The Democratic senatorial committee raised $8.6 million, compared with $3.3 million by the Republican committee.
As Democrats seek to expand their narrow majority in the Senate, the party committee far exceeds the amount of money Republicans have at their disposal, reporting a cash-on-hand balance of $20.4 million with a debt of $4.5 million. The National Republican Senatorial Committee has reported a cash balance of $5.5 million with no debt.
“The contributions reflect the broad pendulum in America, which is that things are swinging to the Democratic side,” said Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, chairman of the Democratic senatorial committee.
In the 2008 Congressional elections, 12 Democratic senators will be up for re-election, compared with 22 Republicans. Both parties have already begun recruiting candidates to challenge incumbents.
Rebecca Fischer, a spokeswoman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, had no comment on the fund-raising numbers. The committee’s full report will be filed July 20, she said.
With scurrying for money already under way for the 2008 presidential race, Mr. Schumer said he had been concerned that he would face difficulty raising contributions for Senate candidates. “In January, we thought it would be our No. 1 problem, that it would suck everything up,” Mr. Schumer said. “But we’re close to double where we were two years ago.”
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