Not all congressional districts are created equal when it comes to the amount of campaign contributions flowing to candidates. Sometimes, the discrepancy between an incumbent’s war chest and that of a challenger is only thousands of dollars. Sometimes, it’s millions. And in many congressional districts, incumbents are blowing their competition out of the water.

In House races this election cycle, 120 Republican candidates have out-raised their Democratic opponents by a 10-to-1 ratio or more, the Center for Responsive Politics found. This includes races that are uncontested races and races in which an opposing candidate has not yet raised or spent $5,000 — the threshold for reporting to the Federal Election Commission. Ninety-seven percent of these candidates are incumbents.

Among Democrats, 110 Democrats in House races this cycle have out-raised their Republican opponents by at least 10-to-1, the Center found. Ninety-six percent of these candidates are incumbents. Again, this includes uncontested races and races with no financial opposition.

This means that roughly half of all House races feature one candidate with a massive fund-raising advantage over his or her opponents.

In races this cycle for seats in Congress’ upper chamber, about one in three of the 37 contests on the ballot has seen either a Democrat or Republican candidate out-raise his or her opponent by at least 10-to-1.

Three Democratic Senate candidates, all incumbents, have out-raised their Republican opponents. Meanwhile, 10 Republican Senate candidates, seven of whom are incumbents, have out-raised their Democratic opponents by at least 10-to-1 this cycle, the Center found.

Two of the three non-incumbent Republican Senate candidates who, so far, have massively out-raised their Democratic competition are competing in open seat elections, where no incumbent from either party is running.

These Republicans are congressman-turned-Senate-candidate Jerry Moran of Kansas and governor-turned-Senate-candidate John Hoeven of North Dakota. Moran’s open seat race against Democrat Lisa Johnston was profiled in greater detail on OpenSecrets Blog here, while Hoeven’s open seat race against Democrat Tracy Potter is highlighted here. Both of these seats are rated as solidly Republican, according to the Cook Political Report.

The third Republican is Joe Miller of Alaska, a favorite of both the Tea Party and Alaska’s former Republican Gov. Sarah Palin. Miller reported a 16-to-1 fund-raising advantage over Democrat Scott McAdams, according to most recent campaign finance filings: $283,500 versus $16,800. One note of caution, however: Miller’s advantage over McAdams is based on campaign finance reports filed in early August, before his primary upset of incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski. At that time, both Miller and McAdams also reported significantly smaller fund-raising numbers than Murkowski, who reported raising $3.5 million. Murkowski has continued to run for her seat as an independent waging a write-in campaign.

The incumbent Republican Senate candidates with at least a 10-to-1 fund-raising advantage over their Democratic opponents so far this cycle are: Sens. John Thune of South Dakota (unopposed), Richard Shelby of Alabama (unopposed), Jim DeMint of South Carolina (unopposed), Tom Coburn of Oklahoma (unopposed), Mike Crapo of Idaho (112-to-1), Johnny Isakson of Georgia (65-to-1) and John McCain of Arizona (23-to-1).

Of these, Thune’s war chest is the largest. And of incumbents facing an opponent in November who has reported at least some cash reserves, Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) touts the largest fund-raising advantage: a ratio of more than 15,000-to-1. Both Thune and Pence are reportedly considering running for president in 2012.

Only three Democratic senators have racked up at least 10 times as much cash as their opponents: Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii).

Schumer’s advantage over Republican Jay Townsend as of Aug. 25, the date of the most recent campaign finance reports in the race, was 110-to-1: $17.85 million compared to $162,200.

Leahy’s fund-raising advantage over Republican Len Britton as of Aug. 4, the date of the most recent campaign finance reports in this race, was 46-to-1: $4.4 million compared to $97,200.

Inouye’s advantage over Republican Cam Cavasso as of Aug. 29, the date of the most recent campaign finance reports in the race, was 24-to-1: $5.1 million compared to $210,100.

All three seats are rated as solidly Democratic, according to the Cook Political Report.

Election observers say there are numerous reasons for why candidates construct the massive war chests of money that they appear not to need in a given election.

“Many candidates never really feel secure and a war chest is something over which they have some control,” John Green, a professor of political science at the University of Akron in Ohio told OpenSecrets Blog. “If the race suddenly gets close, they will have ample funds.

“These funds can be used for other purposes than their own campaign, such as giving to other candidates in their party or to their party committees. Candidates also build up war chests to use for future races,” Green continued. “A large war chest can intimidate potential opponents and outside groups that might want to spend in the race.”

He also added, “There is virtue in keeping a successful fund-raising operation in good shape.”

Other political observers agree.

“Barely-opposed or unopposed incumbents raise as much as they can because it is an insurance policy for the future,” said Larry Sabato, the director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.

“The more money they have sitting in their war chest, the less chance a serious, experienced candidate who actually wants to win the seat will run against them in a future contest,” Sabato told OpenSecrets Blog. “The potential opponent takes one look at the money pile for the incumbent and says, ‘I think I’ll wait until he/she retires… or run for some other office.'”

While most of the politicians OpenSecrets Blog attempted to reach for comment on this story declined or failed to response to messages, one of the lawmakers reached did echo these sentiments.

“Sen. Shelby runs on his record of service to the people of Alabama, but he never takes a race for granted and works hard to ensure he’s fully prepared for any potential challenger,” Shelby spokesman Jonathan Graffeo told OpenSecrets Blog. “He also works diligently to raise funds for other Republicans and has contributed to candidates generously from his own political action committee.”

Another lawmaker’s office said it was a fluke that he appeared on the list.

Rep. Sam Farr (D-Calif.) is running for re-election in California’s 17th Congressional District, an area viewed as solidly Democratic. He reported raising $435,500 as of June 30, the date of the most recent campaign finance reports for the race. At that time his Republican opponent, Jeff Taylor, had reported raising less than $1,400. Since then, Taylor, however, has put substantial personal funds into the race.

“It’s not that we are accumulating a war chest. It’s that we are waiting for our opponent to pile in his own money,” a Farr spokeswoman told OpenSecrets Blog. “It’s obvious that our opponent is spending money. But he is notorious for being late or not filing campaign finance reports. The question is how much money does Mr. Farr have access to. The only money Mr. Farr has access to is money he goes out and asks for himself.”

Here is a table of the top 20 fund-raising advantages of federal candidates in contested races this November:

Name Party Total Raised Ratio to Opponent Race Rep. Mike Pence R $1,755,295 15,263: 1 Indiana 6th District Rep. Elijah Cummings D $669,313 384:1 Maryland 7th District Rep. Frank Lucas R $706,391 358:1 Oklahoma 3rd District Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon R $879,375 342:1 California 25th District Rep. Sam Farr D $435,533 318:1 California 17th District Rep. Kay Granger R $1,155,694 238:1 Texas 12th District Rep. James Clyburn D $2,556,676 232:1 South Carolina 6th District Rep. John Conyers D $861,813 210:1 Michigan 14th District Rep. Xavier Becerra D $1,310,388 177:1 California 31st District Rep. Sam Graves R $708,931 167:1 Missouri 6th District Rep. John Shimkus R $1,286,032 164:1 Illinois 19th District Rep. Doris Matsui D $646,456 163:1 California 5th District Rep. Pete Visclosky D $762,537 158:1 Indiana 1st District Rep. Mike Conaway R $846,574 152:1 Texas 11th District Rep. Eric Cantor R $4,657,679 136:1 Virginia 7th District Rep. Louise Slaughter D $568,161 119:1 New York 28th District Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen R $1,270,711 115:1 Florida 18th District Rep. Edward Markey D $1,284,327 115:1 Massachusetts 7th District Rep. Tom McClintock R $1,496,348 111:1 California 4th District Rep. Scott Garrett R $1,243,731 101:1 New Jersey 5th District

Here is a table of the top 10 federal candidates who have raised the largest war chests and do not have any fiscal opposition of the opposite party this November:

Candidate Total Raised Race Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) $11,581,704 Senate, South Dakota Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) $7,997,796 Senate, Alabama Sen. James DeMint (R-S.C.) $6,578,336 Senate, South Carolina Rep. Michael Capuano* (D-Mass.) $3,229,200 Massachusetts 8th District Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) $2,613,651 Wisconsin 1st District Rep. Judy Chu* (D-Calif.) $2,066,471 California 32nd District Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) $2,040,307 Senate, Oklahoma Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.) $1,870,421 Michigan 4th District Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-N.Y.) $1,617,975 New York 7th District Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) $1,616,213 Georgia 6th District

Note: The Federal Election Commission requires candidates to raise or spend $5,000 before they file regular campaign finance reports, even if their names will appear on the ballot. Additionally, Reps. Michael Capuano and Judy Chu’s large war chests can, in part, be attributed to them running in special elections earlier this cycle.

Center for Responsive Politics Senior Researcher Douglas Weber contributed to this report.

Return to the ‘Races to Watch: Investigating the Cash Behind Election 2010’ series



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