No Longer an Underdog, Courtney had Support From Business Interests in 2008
COURTNEY
The New London Day
Katie Koch
Boston University Washington News Service
2/26/09
WASHINGTON—What a difference two years can make in politics.
Rep. Joe Courtney’s win in his first reelection campaign last November—he trounced Republican challenger Sean Sullivan by a 33-point margin—proved he could muster the broad majorities his 2nd District predecessor, Republican Rob Simmons, once commanded.
Now, recently released fundraising data shows Courtney was able to move not just votes, but dollars—especially from the business interests that shied away from the staunchly liberal Democrat in 2006. Although Courtney raised slightly less in this election cycle—$2.37 million in 2008 versus $2.46 million in 2006—his contributions from business interests went up.
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks money in politics, four of the top five sources for contributions to his 2008 campaign were employees and political action committees of the area’s largest corporations: General Dynamics, Northeast Utilities, Pfizer Inc. and United Technologies.
Employees and PACs affiliated with these four companies gave Courtney $73,506. While that does not yet match the $111,050 Simmons raised from those four companies in 2006, it far exceeds what they contributed to Courtney when he ran as a challenger that year.
For instance, Courtney received 70 contributions of $200 or more from General Dynamics Electric Boat employees over the last two years, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics. When he ran as a challenger in 2006, he received none.
Although big business tends to favor Republican candidates on ideological grounds, last year major corporations could see they needed to curry favor with the increasingly powerful Democrats, according to Kenneth Dautrich, an associate professor of public policy at the University of Connecticut.
“They were purely reading the tea leaves,” Dautrich said. “Obama was going to win, Democrats were going to retain their margins in Congress, and once they got into office, they were going to spend a trillion dollars on the economy.”
For instance, Pfizer employees and political action committees contributed more than twice as much nationally to Republicans as they did to Democrats in the 2006 election cycle. By contrast, they gave roughly the same—$901,067 to Democrats, $908,343 to Republicans—in the 2008 cycle, Center for Responsive Politics data shows.
“Pfizer and others saw the writing on the wall, and right now they’re working as hard as they can to get the [federal] money,” Dautrich said.
As the representative of a district housing several large corporations, Courtney benefited even more from business’s increased generosity toward Democrats. He was the fourth-highest recipient of campaign funds from General Dynamics and the second-highest from Pfizer among all House candidates in 2008, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics.
According to Dautrich, Courtney’s sway with major donors—despite his relative lack of power or seniority in the House—shows the degree to which companies’ major donors take their home base into consideration when choosing where to give.
“They can depend on him more, because he’s more interested in their success,” Dautrich said.
Brian Farber, a spokesman for Courtney, said Courtney’s donors weren’t buying influence but rather expressing their approval of Courtney’s performance for the district.
“You don’t work for donations, you work for respect,” Farber said. “At the end of the day…you have to show that you’re someone they can trust.”
Peter Halvordson, vice president of engineering at Electric Boat, gave $450 to the Simmons campaign in 2006. In the most recent election cycle, he contributed $750 to Courtney. He said he is more pragmatic than partisan when deciding which candidate he will support.
Halvordson said his quick turnaround on Courtney—to whose campaign he contributed fewer than five months after he gave to Simmons—was a result of Courtney’s impressive ability to fight for the district’s needs and concerns, including his efforts to save the Navy submarine base in New London from closure in 2007.
“Since he was elected, I think his understanding, depth of knowledge and intellect have been astounding,” he said.
Courtney’s increased campaign receipts from the business community filled a void left by more issue-oriented groups, which contributed heavily to his 2006 campaign.
Ideological and single-issue groups gave Courtney $517,323 to help fuel his exceptionally narrow win in 2006—which was more than twice as much as any other sector, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. In 2008, this sector still gave the most to Courtney, but the overall total was much less: $293,872.
For instance, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the official campaigning arm of the House Democrats, gave $97,563 to Courtney in the 2006 election cycle, but only $10,550 in the last cycle, the Center reports.
Shripal Shah, the committee’s Northeast regional spokesman, said the committee did not make any independent expenditures on behalf of Courtney’s most recent campaign. In competitive races, the committee will often spend many thousands of dollars to run advertisements or otherwise bolster support in the district.
Farber, Courtney’s spokesman, said the drop-off in Courtney’s contributions from some liberal interest groups does not indicate their waning support for the congressman. Instead, he said, it had more to do with the high number of races in play around the country.
“In such a historic and unprecedented year, resources were probably stretched a little more thinly,” Farber said.
Courtney’s ability to raise money from Simmons’ old supporters isn’t too unusual, according to Scott McLean, a political science professor at Quinnipiac University. In historically competitive districts like Connecticut’s 2nd, he said, groups will often give to both candidates to ensure they have some influence regardless of who wins.
“In the 2nd District it seems that nobody’s advantages are insurmountable,” McLean said.
Farber agreed, saying Courtney was not overconfident about 2010 despite the $625,253 left in his campaign treasury after his easy win over Sullivan.
“This is a district that you can never let your guard down,” he said. “We know that this is always a challenge, that it’s always a fight to the finish.”
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