Shays Sits in Expensive Seat
FEC-SHAYS
Norwalk Hour
Anthony Rotunno
Boston University Washington News Service
2/8/07
WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 – Rep. Christopher Shays , R-Conn., is sitting in one of the most expensive seats in the House.
Last fall, Shays and his Democratic opponent for the Connecticut 4th District seat, former Westport First Selectwoman Diane Farrell, raised more than $6.9 million combined for their 2006 election campaigns.
That sum made the House race New England’s priciest and the 9th most expensive House race overall in the country, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, an independent research group that tracks election money.
“It was a targeted race,” Michael Sohn, Shays’ campaign manager, said of the high-cost contest. “There were so many outside groups getting involved—you had [to have money] to get your message across.”
For Shays and Farrell, who campaigned to represent the nation’s 22nd wealthiest district, the money was not hard to find. According to PoliticalMoneyLine.com , a nonpartisan Web site that analyzes finance reports candidates file with the Federal Election Commission, Shays was listed as the 20th most prolific fundraiser among House candidates in 2006, raking in more than $3.8 million for his campaign. The site ranked Farrell, who raised just more than $3 million, 45 th on its list of the top fundraising candidates, which included both incumbents and challengers.
The Center for Responsive Politics reported the average amount raised by House incumbents in 2006 was approximately $1.2 million and the average amount raised by challengers as approximately $283,000. Massie Ritsch, communications director for the center, said the ability of both candidates to raise such high sums was in large part due to Shay’s perceived vulnerability.
“Connecticut is a blue state; a blue area represented by a red Republican is a prime battleground,” Ritsch said. “It gets on the national radar and money starts flowing in.”
Of Shays’ $3,827,216 total, he raised more than $2 million from in-state contributions. Sohn said Shays received more than 80 percent of this sum from contributions by individuals within the 4th District.
“We are a wealthier district, and people are able to write bigger checks,” he said. “But there were tons of small donations, and the $5 donor is just as important.”
Adam Wood, Farrell’s 2006 campaign manager, said the “wealthier than average” district helped Farrell raise her $3,044,909 total.
“That’s a lot of money for a challenger to raise,” Ritsch said, pointing out that donors are more inclined to give when the candidate’s chances of winning are high. “The Democrats thought they had a good chance of winning this seat.”
The vulnerability of the 4th District’s seat in 2006 resulted in a fundraising “arms race” between the two candidates, said Gary Rose, a political science professor at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield. He said early predictions of Shays’ defeat developed a high-stakes political atmosphere and led to extreme fundraising on both sides.
“I think what distinguished this race from several others is that the challenger began with a substantial amount of name recognition and fundraising capabilities,” Rose said. “For the past two election cycles, the eyes of the nation have been on this seat.”
Sohn said because Farrell began her 2006 campaign immediately after Shays defeated her in 2004, there was no spending break for Shays’ campaign between the two election cycles. He said the media’s intensive focus on the race raised voters’ awareness and the candidates needed to spend money to get their messages across.
Both Sohn and Wood said their candidates spent a large portion of the money they raised on mailings and media spots to influence voters. According to Center for Responsive Politics data, Shays spent more than $2.2 million on campaign mailings, television and radio ads, and Wood said Farrell spent approximately $2.6 million on media and mailings for her campaign. Because the 4th District is between the New York City and Hartford media markets, both campaign managers said, the high costs of advertisements necessitated aggressive fundraising.
“We paid about a quarter of a million dollars for five days [of advertisements] on New York TV,” Sohn said. “People were getting piles of political mail every day … and postage has finally gotten expensive.”
Concerns about the war in Iraq caused many residents to vote last fall, Wood said. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Farrell received more than $88,000 from the political action committee of Moveon.org – a non-profit political advocacy Web site supporting the withdrawal of troops from Iraq.
“Not only was [Shays] vulnerable, but he was also deemed one of the strongest proponents of the war in Iraq,” Rose said, which increased Farrell’s ability to attract support from anti-war contributors. “The ideological component also contributed to the financing of the whole campaign.”
Sohn said Shays’ fundraising capabilities in any election year have depended a lot on the competitiveness of the race. Both Ritsch and Rose said if the multi-million dollar races in 2004 and 2006 are any indication, there is a good chance campaign fundraising totals will remain high in the 4th District.
“I think you could see it again, and it might even exceed 2006 levels,” Rose said.
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