Money and Issues Affecting District 5 Race
FECNewBritain
The New Britain Herald
Tia Albright
Boston University Washington News Service
October 18, 2006
WASHINGTON, Oct. 18 – In Connecticut’s 5th District, 12-term Republican Rep. Nancy Johnson has raised three times as much money as her Democratic opponent, Christopher Murphy, but the race is considered one of the most competitive in the nation.
“I think the race is close,” said Massie Ritsch, communications director for the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-profit, non-partisan research organization based in Washington that tracks money in politics and its effect on elections and public policy. “For the Democrats there are added values that aren’t reflected in campaign fundraising. There is the unpopularity of the president, the war and the Republican Party in general.”
As of Sept. 30, Johnson raised $3,468,668 and had $1,081,111 cash on hand, while Murphy had $367,524 left from the $1,910,891 he raised, according to financial reports the candidates filed with the Federal Election Commission.
Johnson has spent almost $100,000 more than she has raised and still has more than $1 million left to spend. She said that the extra money was left over from her previous campaign.
She said one of the reasons she has raised so much money is that she attracts voters from all walks of life, including people from varying professions and with different opinions.
“I’ve always been proud of the breadth of my fundraising base,” Johnson said. “I think it’s a healthy and good thing.”
Ed Patru, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said money enables candidates to get out their message. “Nancy Johnson’s huge financial advantage is absolutely a liability for Chris Murphy in this race,” Patru said.
But Jen Psaki, spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said, “The real question is, how big does Nancy Johnson’s cash advantage have to be to convince Connecticut voters that they want more of the same in Washington?”
Although Murphy has raised significantly less money than Johnson, he has raised seven times as much as the average House challenger, according to Opensecrets.org, the Center for Responsive Politics’ Web site.
“Our record-breaking fundraising is a symbol of the support we have in Connecticut,” Murphy said. “The money we raised this quarter is double the amount that any previous candidate against Johnson has raised.”
Johnson, with more than $1 million left, and Murphy, with almost $400,000, intend to spend their remaining cash in the next three weeks.
“Some of the money spent has already paid for things that we’re going to do in the next few weeks,” Johnson said. “Basically the money goes to get your message out and manage the campaign.”
Murphy said, “We’ve already bought our TV time for the rest of campaign, but we are going to continue getting our message out to voters in as many ways as we can.”
MoveOn.org, a political action group that support Democrats, has spent $444,424 independently against Johnson, according to Political Money Line, an organization that tracks campaign finance. No independent expenditures against Murphy have been reported.
Johnson said that ads placed by groups like MoveOn.org should be considered part of her opponent’s expenditures because they use the same language his Web site uses.
“I think all outside ads should be banned, but he’s had tons of outside ads,” Johnson said. “He has had a lot of people coming in and running ads, and it is too bad, because those ads tend to be distorted.”
Murphy also has reservations about outside ads. “We would rather that these third parties stay out of the race,” he said. “I think in the end it would be better if the candidates spoke for themselves.”
Both campaigns have their own polls to point to as evidence of success.
A poll the National Republican Congressional Committee commissioned and the American Viewpoint polling firm conducted on Oct. 1 and 2 showed Johnson with a 10-point lead over Murphy, 52-42 percent.
“What is significant here is that Nancy Johnson holds a 10-point lead over her opponent and she’s well over 50 percent,” Patru said. The poll, he said, shows that Johnson has created a solid base of voters.
Murphy held a 5-point lead, 45-40 percent, in an Oct. 12 poll the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee commissioned and the Grove Insight polling firm conducted.
“I think the poll shows that Connecticut families are looking for a change from their current representation,” Psaki said. “Chris Murphy’s message of bringing change to the way business is done in Washington is resonating with voters.”
Murphy, in talking about the Democratic poll, said, “This is no doubt a David and Goliath race, but like the story goes, David is winning.”
But with three weeks left in such a tight race it can go either way, said Scott McLean, chairman of the political science department at Quinnipiac University.
“I think the race is pretty close,” McLean said. “A lot of old formulas for a congressional race do not apply when you’ve got an international situation that everyone is focused on, and those issues can neutralize the financial situation.”
###
