Static Massachusetts Delegation Helped Swing Democratic Victory in Congress
Massachusetts
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Priyanka Dayal and Danny Lauridsen
Boston University Washington News Service
Feb. 9, 2007
WASHINGTON, Feb. 9 –Massachusetts congressmen used their excess green to add a little more blue on the map during the last election.
The 10 U.S. House members from Massachusetts, all Democrats, had their seats functionally secured well before last November’s election. But they played a pivotal role in the Democrats’ sweep of Congress last fall by raising funds for and contributing heavily to the campaigns of candidates around the country.
No matter how large their victories and how high their popularity, public officials need to raise funds to ward off possible challengers and prove themselves as party loyalists. But especially in 2006, the Massachusetts delegation reached into their pockets to help give the House majority to the Democrats.
“They have been great team players in helping the Democrats win the majority in November,” said Jennifer Crider, spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “And given their leadership roles in Congress, we hope they will continue to do so. They have been an important part of the team.”
In a Congress whose partisanship seems to grow stronger each year, the Democratic campaign committee, which relies on well-funded and safe Democratic incumbents to garner support for candidates in tight races across the country, views Massachusetts as a major asset to the party.
Five of the 10 representatives from the Bay State ran unopposed, and the other five out-raised their opponents by more than $500,000, each winning with at least 65 percent of the vote.
Each member raised at least $650,000 for the 2006 election, and four of them raised more than $1 million. U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Newton, topped his colleagues with more than $1.8 million, according to end-of-the-year reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.
Of the 435 members in the House of Representatives, members from Massachusetts have among the largest sums of money in the bank. Only eight House members have more than $2 million, and three of them are from Massachusetts, including Martin T. Meehan of Lowell, whose $5.1 million is by far the biggest war chest of any U.S. congressman, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan watchdog group that tracks money in politics.
Edward J. Markey of Medford has the second highest amount, with $2.4 million, and William D. Delahunt of Quincy ranks seventh in the nation with about $2 million.
David Donnelly, national campaigns director for Public Campaign Action Fund, an advocacy group that favors limiting the influence of special interest money in American politics, said the stakes were high for both Democrats and Republicans in 2006.
“There was a lot of pressure on [Democratic] candidates who did not have competitive races – like the ones in Massachusetts – to raise money and give it to” the Democratic campaign committee, Mr. Donnelly said.
The committee charges dues from all the Democrats in the House, but the fees vary depending on committee assignments and seniority. Members of the Appropriations and Ways and Means Committees, for example, pay more than members of other, low-profile committees. Committee chairmen also pay more than those without gavels.
In addition to dues, Massachusetts congressmen contributed more than $2 million to the Democratic campaign committee, which filters the money to congressional campaigns around the country. Each delegate contributed $100,000 or more.
The pressure to raise funds for Democratic candidates nationwide also came from liberal blogs. Mydd.com, for instance, ran an online “use it or lose it” campaign, asking incumbent Democrats to use their funds for the good of the party, Mr. Donnelly said.
Michael Mershon, spokesman for U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern of Worcester, said because Mr. McGovern ran unopposed last fall, he sought to raise money for other candidates rather than promoting himself.
“Not having an opponent for Jim’s congressional race certainly freed up his time and energy,” Mr. Mershon said. “He was more able to help other candidates out.”
Mr. Meehan, who gave more than $109,000 to the Democratic campaign committee last year, in addition to more than $15,000 in dues, said through a spokesman that he is already “working to keep the momentum moving toward the 2008 congressional and presidential elections.”
He added: “I look forward to doing my part in those key races to keep the congressional majority and return a Democrat to the White House.”
Mr. Meehan’s hefty bank account has fueled speculation that he plans to run for Senate if veterans Edward M. Kennedy or John F. Kerry were to retire. Mr. Kerry, who ran for president in 2004, announced last month that he would not seek the presidency in 2008 but would instead stand for re-election to the Senate. Mr. Kennedy won an easy re-election to his seat last fall.
“For a while, many members of the House were raising money to stockpile it for a future run in the Senate,” Mr. Donnelly said. “The speculation has generally surfaced around Marty Meehan and Barney Frank.”
But after Mr. Kerry announced he would stay in the Senate, Mr. Frank said he decided he would not run for Senate in 2008. Instead, he has donated $250,000 from his campaign war chest to the Democratic campaign committee.
Mr. Meehan, in a statement released by his office, said: “I plan to run for re-election in 2008. I will use the funds available to me in my campaign account for that election and any future races.”
Mr. Meehan is rumored to be eyeing a position as chancellor at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, a move that also would shake things up in an otherwise static delegation.
But Mr. Meehan’s spokesman, Bryan DeAngelis, said, “Right now he has not been offered the job. They asked to sit down and interview him, but he has not applied for the job. He plans on seeking re-election.”
Mr. Meehan, who does not accept donations from political action committees, also has been at the forefront of efforts to overhaul campaign finance laws. He introduced legislation last month that would increase the amount of public funds available to presidential candidates to encourage them not to run privately-funded campaigns.
Another possible shake-up in the Bay State is the redistricting after the 2010 Census, in which Massachusetts could lose a House seat. And western Massachusetts, with its dwindling population, could be the most affected. A switch to nine House seats would pit two incumbents against each other, giving the candidate with the larger war chest a distinct advantage.
Massie Ritsch, communications director for the Center for Responsive Politics, said it is important for candidates to plan for future races even when they are running unopposed.
“You don’t want to look weak or out of touch because that might prompt someone else to come challenge you next time,” he said. “Even the most secure politicians always have some fear that they’re going to be challenged by a well-financed opponent sometime down the road, and to prepare they have to amass this war chest.”
Ritsch pointed out that it took about $1 million to win a House race in 2006, meaning that with the money Mr. Meehan has in the bank right now, he could win five.
Josef Blumenfeld, a global public relations and branding consultant in Natick, Mass. who has worked in politics, said that in a state as politically predictable as Massachusetts, candidates who have had a high profile in past election cycles would have a big advantage in the wake of any kind of political upheaval.
“These are products,” he said. “They’re brands. There’s a fundraising advantage in being the incumbent from purely a self-preservation perspective.”
Blumenfeld compared campaign fundraising in seemingly locked-up races to large corporations that advertise to consumers who are already likely to buy their products.
One thing candidates must figure out while campaigning in non-races is where to place the fine line between looking out for the party and looking out for the future. Blumenfeld said organizations like the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, or the DCCC, often argue that candidates in locked-up races are not giving enough to the party as a whole.
“There were murmurings from the DCCC that Democrats up here should open up their war chest a little more, but I think they came through in the end,” he said.
In the case of the Massachusetts delegation, being a team player last year extended not only to other nationwide elections, but also to the race for governor. Mr. Meehan contributed $125,000 to help carry Democratic Gov. Deval L. Patrick to victory last November.
In every move they make, though, candidates are considering which alliances will benefit them the most in their ambitions for a higher office, experts said.
“Raising money and contributing it to the party has also become one barometer used by members of both parties to assess if someone is serious enough to be a committee chair,” Mr. Donnelly said.
As Ritsch pointed out, “The campaign really never stops.”
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