House candidates raised less in 2013 than they did in 2011 — the first decline since 2001.

Our analysis of House campaign finance reports covering 2013 shows that total receipts for all candidates fell to $396.1 million from $404.6 million two years earlier. That breaks a string of fairly consistent growth over the last decade.

Much of the decline comes from Republican incumbents seeking re-election. They raised a total of $177.5 million in 2013, down from $197.1 million in 2011. There are nine fewer Republicans seeking re-election this year than there were in the last cycle, but incumbents’ average fundraising has also dropped, from $880,000 in 2011 to $825,000 in 2013.

For Democratic House members, the totals actually increased, from $106.3 million in 2011 to $124.5 million last year. Average receipts for Democratic members grew from $611,000 to $642,000.

But fundraising by challengers and open seat candidates in both parties dropped. Democrats took in $43.3 million in 2013, down from $49.8 million in 2011. For Republicans, the decrease was slight: $50.3 million compared with $50.8 million in 2011. These declines are both explained in part by the smaller number of candidates beginning their campaigns in 2013. Moreover, the number of challengers raising at least $100,000 in 2013 fell to 112 (49 Democrats and 63 Republicans), down from 159 (83 Dems, 74 Republicans and 2 others) in 2011 and 171 in 2009. Average receipts for both Democratic and Republican nonincumbents rose, however, from $169,000 to $212,000 for Democrats and from $155,000 to $193,000 for Republicans, suggesting that a small number of candidates are still raising significant sums. Help us keep government accountable by making a donation today.

Five Democratic challengers and five Republicans rang up more than $1 million in receipts in 2013: Andrew Romanoff in Colorado’s 6th Congressional District, Ro Khanna in California’s 17th, Sean Eldridge and Dominic Recchia in New York’s 19th and 11th, respectively, and Gwen Graham in Florida’s 2nd. Khanna is challenging Mike Honda (D) in the primary, while the others are gunning for Republican incumbents. Only Eldridge has thus far committed significant personal funds ($715,000) to the campaign; the others are raising large amounts from individuals.

On the GOP side, those cresting the $1 million mark were George Demos in New York’s 1st Congressional District, Carl Demaio in California’s 52nd, Robert Dold in Illinois’ 10th, David Trott in Michigan’s 11th and Jim Tracy in Tennessee’s 4th. Trott and Tracy are challenging Republican incumbents in primaries and Dold is a former member seeking a return to Congress. Two of these challengers, Demos and Trott, are investing heavily in their own campaigns, with Demos lending his campaign $2 million of the $2.2 million in receipts he reported for the year and Trott contributing about $408,000 of his $1.1 million. None of the top Republican challengers have raised the significant sums in small dollar individual contributions that are often characteristic of campaigns by the party’s insurgents. Among the Democrats, though, about a quarter of Andrew Romanoff’s $2 million from individuals came from donors of $200 or less, while Gwen Graham also brought in a meaningful amount, $209,000 out of $1.3 million. Image: Bill Clinton with Democratic House candidate Andrew Romanoff of Colorado, December 2013 (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)



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