PACs

GOP Leadership PACs Lead Fundraising Race

By Derek Willis
Congressional Quarterly
Friday, June 16, 2000

National Democratic Party officials are fond of crowing about their recent fundraising successes. But in at least one campaign money sector - leadership political action committees (PACs) - a Republican Party advantage is readily apparent.

Leadership PACs are those founded by congressional incumbents and other major political figures; the money they raise is in turn donated to the campaigns of the PAC sponsors' political allies.

The top 32 recipients of leadership PAC contributions during the current election cycle are all Republican congressional candidates. The first Democrat on the list is Mike Honda, a state representative who is his party's nominee for the important open-seat U.S. House race in California's 15th District. And Honda's take of $44,000 from members' PACs is less than half of what the top GOP recipient has collected. That Republican list-topper is Kentucky Rep. Ernie Fletcher, whose contest with Democratic former Rep. Scotty Baesler in that state's 6th District is another of the nation's key House races.

According to Federal Election Commission data released June 1, Fletcher's campaign has received $91,244 from Republican leadership committees.

Most GOP incumbents facing tight races appear high on the list. Republican Sens. Spencer Abraham of Michigan, John Ashcroft of Missouri and Rod Grams of Minnesota each has raised more than $50,000 from colleagues' committees. Vulnerable Republican House incumbents Donald L. Sherwood of Pennsylvania's 10th District, Steven T. Kuykendall of California's 36th District and George Nethercutt of Washington's 5th District all ranked among the top five leadership PAC recipients.

Nethercutt, for example, has received contributions from 22 separate GOP leadership PACs. Three of them - representing House Majority Whip Tom DeLay and House Majority Leader Dick Armey, both of Texas, and Rep. Jim McCrery of Louisiana, have already given a maximum $10,000 to Nethercutt's campaign. The Keep Our Majority PAC of House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, Ill., has given $9,999 to the Washington lawmaker.

Even Texas Gov. George W. Bush, his party's all-but-confirmed presidential nominee and a record-setting fundraiser, has taken advantage of the GOP leadership PAC network. Leadership committees have given the Bush campaign $67,171 during this election cycle, ranking him 11th among federal candidates.

Democrats' Drawback

All of this should comfort GOP leaders, especially in the House, where a razor-thin majority - Democrats need to capture six seats - has provoked much speculation about a possible Democratic takeover in November.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) reported $24.4 million in cash on hand on March 31, of which $15 million was in "soft money." Both figures are substantial increases over previous election cycles - at the same point during the 1997-98 election cycle, the DCCC had less than $2 million in cash on hand. The drawback for the Democrats, though, is that so much of their treasury is in soft money, which cannot be given directly to candidates' campaigns. Most of the money to and from leadership PACs, on the other hand, is "hard money" that can go directly to other candidates' campaigns.

That is not the only Republican advantage: 74 GOP members of Congress have their own committees compared with just 30 Democrats. That means that many more Republican challengers who otherwise might not have gotten financial support - and the attention of other PACs - have been receiving help.

For example, California lawyer Mike Stoker is challenging Democratic Rep. Lois Capps in California's 22nd District. Stoker's campaign has received $49,500 in leadership PAC contributions out of a campaign fundraising total of $270,000 through March 31.

Not for Everyone

At least one Republican is getting out of the leadership PAC business, however. Oklahoma Rep. Steve Largent has decided to close his Leadership for America's Future PAC, which had raised just $6,500 this year after receiving about $81,000 in contributions from a variety of corporate PACs and lobbyists during 1999.

Craig Richardson, a Largent political consultant, said that the three-term congressman wanted to devote more time to pursuing electricity deregulation legislation and that fundraising occupied too much time.

"It's tough sledding. There's so much more activity in fundraising than I've ever seen before in my life," Richardson said. Largent also orchestrated a joint fundraising committee during the 1998 elections that collected $200,000 from fellow Republicans and contributed the money to House challengers and open-seat candidates. That entity, the New Conservative Leadership Fund, was shut down in April 1999.

The Leaders

Through June 1, the top five recipients of leadership PAC contributions in the 1999-2000 election cycle were: Fletcher, $91,244; Sherwood, $85,678; former Virginia Republican Gov. George Allen (the GOP challenger to Democratic Sen. Charles S. Robb), $84,500; Kuykendall, $80,629; and Nethercutt, $80,078. The next five were Abraham, $75,079; Ohio Republican state Rep. Patrick J. Tiberi (the GOP nominee for Ohio's open 12th District seat), $73,485; California Republican Elia Pirozzi (the GOP challenger to 42nd District Rep. Joe Baca, $70,000; California 27th District Rep. James E. Rogan Jr., $68,856; and Michigan Republican state Sen. Michael J. Rogers (the GOP nominee for Michigan's open 8th District seat, $67,798.

Derek Willis is Congressional Quarterly's lead reporter on campaign finance issues.