Delahunt, Kennedy Have Millions More Than Opponents
FECCape
Cape Cod Times
Paul Crocetti
Boston University Washington News Service
October 19, 2006
WASHINGTON, Oct. 19 —As election season enters its homestretch, Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-Mass.) hold financial advantages of millions of dollars over their Republican opponents, according to campaign finance filings with the Federal Election Commission.
Kennedy had $7.4 million in his campaign account as of September 30, the end of the latest reporting period, while his opponent, Ken Chase had approximately $36,000.
Delahunt had $1.87 million in the bank at the end of September while his opponent, Jeff Beatty, had just under $8,000.
But David King, a lecturer in public policy at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, cautioned that Delahunt’s financial figure must be viewed in context.
“$1.8 million seems like a lot, but it’s not compared to other members of the delegation,” King said. For example, Rep. Marty Meehan (D-Mass.) had almost $5 million in his campaign war chest at the end of September.
However, to be a contender against an incumbent, a candidate should look to raise at least $250,000, King said.
Beatty had raised just under $50,000 in this election cycle.
The Beatty campaign did not respond to queries from the Times before deadline.
“That’s not enough money to be considered a credible candidate,” King said. “Clearly Jeff Beatty is not attracting investors. People consider him a losing investment.”
That doesn’t mean the Delahunt campaign is sitting back on its heels. Delahunt has spent almost $800,000 this election cycle.
“We’re certainly not relaxed,” said P.J. O’Sullivan, spokesman for the Delahunt campaign. “The congressman takes every re-election seriously. He sees it as re-applying for the job, as he does every two years.”
In the past, Delahunt has given some of his extra money to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
This election cycle, he gave the committee $125,000, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan group that tracks campaign finance issues.
“It’s a pretty safe bet that Massachusetts will be returning a Democratic delegation, but we don’t know about the rest of Congress,” said Steven Broderick, Delahunt’s communications director. “Where we can help, we help.”
O’Sullivan said Delahunt will donate to the committee again, “but his first priority will be to ensure re-election.”
Unlike Kennedy and other members of the Massachusetts delegation running for re-election, including three that are unopposed, Delahunt does not have a campaign Web site.
As a result, potential donors are not able to make a quick donation to the campaign over the Internet.
“He has always viewed any campaign as an extension of his job as a congressman,” O’Sullivan said, noting that Delahunt’s official House of Representatives Web site is his place of record. “A campaign Web site, just to have one, would be duplicitous.”
Many of Delahunt’s and Kennedy’s top donors come from outside his constituent area. In this election cycle, seven of Delahunt’s top 11 donor zip codes are from outside the 10th district, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
However, some of those top donor areas are as close as Boston and Braintree.
“He’s not crossing too many boundaries there,” King said. “It’s very common that more money is raised externally rather than internally.”
Kennedy gets almost 70 percent of his contributions from outside of Massachusetts. King attributes this statistic to Kennedy’s status as a long-time senator who has had an effect on people across the country.
The bulk of Ken Chase’s donors have come from outside the state as well.
“They’re presumably writing anti-Kennedy checks,” King said.
The Chase campaign also did not respond to Times queries before deadline.
Although Chase has raised almost $650,000, a “decent” amount of money according to King, money does not matter much in this race.
“There isn’t much desire to get rid of Sen. Kennedy right now,” King said. “He represents the state very well. And that’s not a partisan matter. Republicans in Congress have great respect for how he legislates.”
Like Delahunt, Kennedy has not treated this race lightly: he has spent nearly $8 million this election cycle.
He will continue to use his money to campaign in Massachusetts, according to Melissa Wagoner, Kennedy’s press secretary.
“Beyond that, as always, he helps other Democrats get elected and fight for change in Washington,” she wrote in an email.
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