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Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) doesn’t have much to worry about this year — she easily dispatched a primary challenger earlier this month, and her Democratic opponent has raised just $3,000. So why does OpenSecrets.org consider the race for North Carolina’s Fifth Congressional District a “Hot Race”?

As it turns out, Foxx’s campaign fundraising raised a red flag when we ran our traps on the data: More than 50 percent of her $823,000 in campaign funds so far this cycle come from out-of-state donors, which is frequently an indication of a close contest. Others who are fitting that pattern include Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, the New Hampshire Democrat, or Thad Cochran, the Republican from Mississippi. Nationally known figures also haul in buckets of out-of-state cash, such as House Speaker John Boehner (R), who gets 89 percent of money from outside Ohio.

Foxx is neither battling for her political life nor a lawmaker with much of a national profile — and, to be fair, just 51 percent of her funds come from beyond North Carolina’s borders. But one industry — for-profit education — accounts for much of Foxx’s out-of-state cash. Foxx, who is chairwoman of the House Education Committee’s subcommittee on higher education and workforce training, has been sympathetic to the industry’s needs in the past, as we’ve reported.

Overall, the education industry is Foxx’s top source of campaign cash, and for-profit operator Corinthian Colleges is her top donor (including both PAC and individual donors). Also in her top 10 is American Career Colleges, a California for-profit. Lobbyists for both of those companies also have made contributions to Foxx’s campaign.

Among her individual donors outside North Carolina, there’s a pattern. Of the $37,150 she has reported receiving from donors in New York State, $15,950 came from someone in the for-profit education business; New York accounts for more than 10 percent of her donations of more than $200. California residents gave her $23,300, of which $15,500 came from those involved in for-profit schools.

And these big (greater than $200) donations are vital for Foxx; she has received just $57,923 from small individual donors (those giving less than $200).

Foxx’s legislative efforts seem to indicate that she’s cognizant of her strong support from the for-profit education world. She was the sponsor of H.R. 2637, The Supporting Academic Freedom Through Regulatory Relief Act — legislation that would prohibit the Secretary of Education from “engaging in regulatory overreach” with regard to eligibility of schools for federal aid. The Department of Education has proposed measures that would prohibit colleges and technical schools from receiving federal funds depending on the share of their students wind up employed, fail to graduate or leave school heavily in debt. Some industry analysts say as many as 20 percent of for-profit schools could be kicked out of the program.



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