Hodes Sets Record for Fundraising for U.S. House Race in New Hampshire
HODES FEC
New Hampshire Union Leader
Aoife Connors
Boston University Washington News Service
March 4, 2009
WASHINGTON – Rep. Paul Hodes (D-N.H.) during his 2008 campaign raised more than $2 million, according to year-end reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.
This is a record for fundraising for a U.S. House race in New Hampshire, said Dante Scala, head of the Political Science Department at the University of New Hampshire. In 2006, when he raised $1.6 million, Hodes also set a record, Scala said.
It was a very crowded campaign field in 2008, Hodes said. “We had the presidential election, the Senate election and the House elections; so I knew it was important to have the financial means to compete.”
Scala said, “Hodes is a prodigious fundraiser; he did it in 2006 against an incumbent and he set the agenda again in 2008. Looking forward he could contend at a higher level because he is very good at raising money and can scare off challengers.”
Hodes can threaten opponents because “it is hard to contend against him,” Scala said. “He has set himself up for 2010 as a serious runner for the Senate.”
Hodes said the campaign was based on having the financial means “to tell stories. It’s a combination of having the means, the professional organization and the tools to communicate with the people of New Hampshire.”
Scala said, “Hodes showed in New Hampshire how quickly political fortunes can change by beating a Republican in 2006 and raising so much money in 2008.”
According to candidate reports filed with the Federal Election Commission, Hodes raised $2,030,790 in the 2008 race and $1,648,323 in 2006.
The leading industry contributing to Hodes’ 2008 campaign was the finance, insurance and real estate sector, which gave $351,400, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington-based research group that tracks money in politics. This includes contributions by PACs as well as by individuals associated with those businesses.
Scala said since Hodes is on the House Financial Services Committee, “it’s a typical pattern that particular industries in that sector would give him funds and hope he would listen to the issues of concern to them.”
Top contributors in 2008, according to the Center for Responsive Poltics, included PACs and individuals associated with the law firm Willkie, Farr & Gallagher, $14,050; American Bankers Association, $11,500; and Dartmouth College; $10,300.
“The money Hodes raises comes from a diverse group that includes unions, business and an ideological base,” Scala said.
Hodes received $14,975 in contributions from the Human Rights Campaign, a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) group.
Hodes received the fourth-highest amount given to a House candidate by the Human Rights Campaign, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
The contributions are based on a candidate questionnaire and a congressional scorecard, said Trevor Thomas, deputy communications director for the Human Rights Campaign.
“We look at a host of issues, to see where the candidate stands on key issues like HIV/AIDS, civil rights protections and sexual orientation,” Thomas said. “Hodes had a very good LGBT voting record, with 85 percent in the last Congress.”
The voting record was based on 11 votes during the 110th Congress that indicated where the House member stood on issues important to the Human Rights Campaign, Thomas said.
The campaign endorses incumbents with strong LGBT records, Thomas said. Hodes’ score of 85 trailed that of then-Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo., who scored 100 and received $25,923 from the organization for his successful campaign for the U.S. Senate.
“I don’t vote ever with any thought in mind about what it means for contributions; I vote to serve the people of New Hampshire” Hodes said. “We all come from the same place and should be treated equally in the eyes of the law.”
During the 2008 election cycle, the Human Rights Campaign Political Action Committee contributed $5,000 to Hodes campaign in the primary election and another $5,000 in the general election, Thomas said.. The maximum contribution a PAC can give during an election cycle is $10,000.
The organization gave an additional $4,975 to the Hodes campaign during the 2008 election cycle. These funds were written off as retired debt from the 2006 cycle since the $10,000 limit was never reached in 2006, according to Thomas.
“Hodes is a reliably liberal vote…. It makes sense that such a candidate would be supported by the HRC,” Scala said.
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