Some Say Money Isn’t Everything in the District 4 Race
FEC-Hour
Norwalk Hour
Erin Kutz
Boston University Washington News Service
February 22, 2008
WASHINGTON — Democratic challenger Jim Himes has raised nearly 80 percent as much as U.S. Rep. Chris Shays, R-4, has for the 2008 election, but through 11 elections extraordinary sums of money have yet to knock Shays from his congressional seat.
By the end of last year, according to the most recent filings with the Federal Election Commission, Himes raised $951,221, compared to the $1,154,044 raised by Shays, the sole Republican House member in New England.
In 2004, Democratic challenger Diane Farrell raised nearly $1.5 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan group that tracks campaign finance data, and garnered 48 percent of the vote. She raised nearly twice as much for the 2006 election, but Shays prevailed in an even closer election, with just 50 percent of the vote.
Himes, who worked for 12 years at Wall Street bank Goldman Sachs, draws 93 percent of his funds from individual contributions, according to the center. Himes’ campaign manager Maura Keaney said the challenger’s broad community involvement – including charitable work and a past chairmanship of the Greenwich Housing Authority’s board – positions him well for fundraising and voter support. In addition to working in the financial arena, he was a Rhodes Scholar and worked the last five years at the Enterprise Foundation, a nonprofit that focuses on expanding affordable housing.
“One of the reasons why we’ve gotten so much early grassroots support is that Jim is not a career politician,” she said.
John Orman, Fairfield University politics department chair, said polls of the district would better indicate Himes’ vitality in the race, but called his fund-raising a “great start.”
“Money is not everything, but without the money you can’t even come close,” he said.
Micahel Sohn, Shays’ campaign manager, said his finances are on target. “We’ve always raised what we need to raise to run a successful campaign and this year is no different,” he said. “Our fundraising is on budget and this year is moving right along.”
Goldman Sachs’s political action committee and employees are the biggest source of funds for both Shays and Himes. They’ve given Himes nearly $50,000, compared to $10,900 to Shays, according to the center. (And Goldman Sachs’s PAC and employees are the largest political donors nationwide, according to Center for Responsive Politics Communications Director Massie Ritsch.)
Shays raised almost 90 percent of his money from Connecticut donors, while Himes got 51 percent of his campaign cash from outside the Nutmeg State. Himes’ heavy out-of-state financing indicates the Democratic Party has its eye on the seat, Ritsch said.
“When a seat has been identified as one that could possibly change hands, the party out of power rallies to try and support the challenger,” he said.
Carrie James, northeast regional press secretary for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said the party will support Himes “to the extent necessary,” and that “Himes’ fundraising successes show just how eager people are for a change in direction and how much support there is for Himes.”
The Democratic committee donated $1,000 to the Himes campaign in September, according to filings with the FEC.
Both candidates also have benefited from support of fellow politicians. Himes received $2,000 from Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s campaign committee and $1,000 from Democrats Win Seats, the leadership political action committee of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, R-Fla. . Leadership PACs are separate funding entities politicians use to raise for their colleagues. All told, Democratic politicians gave Himes $11,500 from their campaign committees.
Shays received even more largesse from his colleagues in 2007, including $10,000 each from Freedom Project PAC and the Rely On Your Beliefs PAC, , the leadership political action committees of House Republican leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Roy Blunt, R-Mo., respectively. Overall GOP politicians have given at least $71,000 to Shays from their committees.
Shays has held his district even in years when other Connecticut Republican House members lost their seats.
“Rep. Shays won last time in one of the worst election cycles for Republicans in decades,” National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Julie Shutley said of the 2006 election, when Republicans lost 30 seats in the House and six in the Senate. “We’re confident that he will be reelected in November.”
Nathan Gonzales, political editor at the Rothenberg Political Report, noted the Democrats’ real challenge has been not monetary but ideological.
“In this district, the Democrats’ problem is not money,” he said. “It’s never been generating enough money against Chris Shays. They need a better message about why Chris Shays should be defeated.”
Orman, of Fairfield University, said Himes’ chances could be enhanced if Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., is the Democratic presidential candidate. Obama would be more appealing for the independent voters in the state, who Himes also needs, Orman said.
However, Connecticut voters have favored the middle-leaning incumbents, Orman said, citing the success of Shays and Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., in the last election
Gonzales, of the Rothenberg report, said Shays’ previous victories hinged on his ability to identify himself outside of party lines.
“I think he’s been able to carve out his own image within the party,” he said. “. I know that drives Democrats up the wall, but that’s what they’re working against. … Chris Shays does not have a lot of margin for error, but I think he knows what he needs to do.”
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