O’Malley Struggles to Find Financial Backers
WASHINGTON, Oct. 20 – With the election only days away, Democratic Rep. John F. Tierney’s enormous financial war chest looms large over Republican challenger Stephen P. O’Malley’s scant $2,400 cash on hand.
The Sixth District Salem Democrat has cash on hand of $887,958, with political action committees donating 28 percent of all receipts and nearly 3,000 individuals contributing 70 percent, according to his Oct. 15 campaign filing with the Federal Election Commission.
O’Malley, however, has received contributions from only 51 individuals, according to his FEC filing. Only 12 of them contributed in September, leaving O’Malley with only $2,400 cash on hand and an opponent who far outweighs his financial capability.
O’Malley recognizes the disparity in campaign finances. “There’s no doubt I’m up against a political machine. Tierney has the backing and the support of all the special-interest groups and has already spent more than $300,000, according to the FEC,” O’Malley said in an interview on Wednesday. “Campaigns shouldn’t be about money.”
With optimistic assurance, O’Malley added: “It doesn’t cost any money to talk to people, to go to parades. We’re getting our message out any way we can.”
Through Sept. 30, Tierney, who won two years ago with 68 percent of the vote, received contributions of $662,497 to O’Malley’s $44,291; the Democrat spent $334,039 to the Republican’s $41,889.
This trend of incumbents accumulating substantially more money from interest groups, lobbyists and wealthy individuals than challengers has become stronger in the last few elections, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan, non-profit research group. In the 2002 House elections, for example, incumbents raised nearly $900,000 on average, while challengers raised only about $200,000.
As a result, in the last three elections, House challengers have lost to incumbents an average of 97 percent of the time. Of the 435 seats at stake in the House, only 4 incumbents were unseated in the 2002 elections. Today, a challenger would have to spend at least $500,000 to have a chance at beating an incumbent, according to opensecrets.org, the Website of the Center for Responsive Politics.
For O’Malley, these statistics and numbers become even more daunting in the context of political donations in Massachusetts. In the previous two election cycles, Democratic candidates received nearly twice as much money as Republicans, according to opensecrets.org.
The demographics of Massachusetts – the number of higher-education schools, the predominance of health care and social services industries as well as strong union membership – lean more Democratic than Republican, according to the Harvard Political Review.
Still, Massachusetts voters have elected Republican governors since 1991 and, according to some political experts, believe in the need for political balance in the legislative system.
Republican town and city committees in the Sixth District have little money to give the party’s candidates, as evidenced by the Republican Town Committee in O’Malley’s hometown of Nahant sending him a check for only $250, according to the chairwoman, Jayne Solimine.
“Without the money to buy the ads, the burden is really on the candidate to make the personal appearances,” Solimine said. “I think he’s very persuasive when you hear him speak. It’s a productive thing for him to do. But I’d sure like to see him raise more money.”
The Massachusetts State Republican Committee is also strapped for cash.
“If we emptied our treasury and gave it to O’Malley it wouldn’t even make a difference,” said Stephen Zykofsky, Republican state committeeman for the third Essex district. “Because of gerrymandering and interest groups, the incumbent has the power of incumbency, and that power is very strong.”
“In this state it costs a good $1.1 million if you’re going to have any chance of mounting a successful challenge,” Zykofsky continued. “You cannot run for Congress and expect the state party to write a check and you’re on your way.”
While the state committee has raised millions of dollars, according to Zykofsky, it will be donating money solely to the state legislative races in the belief that Republican Gov. Mitt Romney would be better able to complete his programs with more Republican state legislators.
“The situation was so bad. We had to start somewhere to turn the situation around. So [the state committee] decided to concentrate on the state legislature. And that’s where all the money has gone,” said Zykofsky, who said he remains grateful to O’Malley for giving Republicans a voice in the Sixth District.
The executive director of the Massachusetts State Republican Party, Tim O’Brien, agreed that “it’s an uphill battle anytime you face an entrenched incumbent” but maintained that the seat is still winnable for the Nahant challenger despite his lack of funds.
“A lot of time we take our lead from Washington,” O’Brien said. “We look at cash on hand, numbers and polling numbers.” O’Brien said they haven’t ruled out donating to O’Malley’s campaign.
O’Malley, expressing gratitude for the support and endorsements of Romney, Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey and State Republican Party chairman Darrel Crate, said, “I am disappointed that the Massachusetts State Republican Party has not seen fit to taking a more active role in contributing to my campaign.”
On the national level, the Republican National Congressional Committee sets priorities to determine which candidates will receive financial contributions.
“Our first obligation is to support Republican incumbents,” said Bo Harmon, a committee spokesman. “Our next priority is to open seats, when we feel like we have the best chance of winning. And then third to support Republican challengers.”While the committee helps all Republican candidates on issues and campaign platforms, he said, it donates money only to “candidates who have been able to get a great deal of support in the community,” both financially and otherwise. Since O’Malley lacks financial backing from the community, he is not a prime contribution target for the committee.
“Our focus is to win campaigns where we feel like we have the best chance, and it doesn’t matter if it’s in Massachusetts or Texas,” Harmon said. “Where we see we have a chance of winning, we’re going to do whatever we can to make that happen.”
This determination to donate only to potential winners leaves candidates like O’Malley to fend for themselves. As it stands, with his paltry financial contributions and the high rate of incumbents’ keeping their seats, O’Malley’s chances of mounting a successful campaign against Tierney look bleak.
Nonetheless, O’Malley said, “We know that the voters who hear my message on Nov. 2 will vote for change in the Sixth District.” But regardless of the outcome, in the words of Zykofsky, O’Malley’s running “is a great thing for democracy.”
##
