TALLAHASSEE—Fundraising and campaign spending are proving once again to
be accurate predictors of who wins elections according to “The Wealth Primary”, a new Florida PIRG analysis of Federal Elections Commission (FEC) data for the 2006 congressional primaries.
Despite the record level of public frustration with the current
Congress and the best opportunity for challengers in more than a
decade, the biggest fundraisers won 92% of the 2006 major party
primaries. Furthermore, party nomination campaigns were primarily
funded by large contributions from less than one tenth of one percent
of the electorate.
“This
report confirms what every prospective candidate knows—the first
questions to ask are about money. Am I rich? Do I know rich people who
will give me money? If not, my chances of reaching Congress are slim
and maybe I’d better pursue another line of work,” said Brad Ashwell,
Legislative Advocate for Florida PIRG.
“The
current campaign finance system forces candidates to compete for
dollars in a ’wealth primary.’ Those who are unable to raise large sums
from wealthy contributors are filtered out of the process, either
because they lose their primary or they decide not to run in the first
place,” added Ashwell.
The dominance of big money also appears to hinder electoral
competition. With three-quarters of the races uncontested, the report
suggests that the lack of competition can be traced in part to the
large financial advantage enjoyed by incumbents. Incumbent candidates
began the 2006 election cycle with more than $188 million in cash on
hand.
“Large
contributions from PACs, lobbyists, and other special interests are
probably the biggest advantage of incumbency. Officeholders routinely
build huge war chests that scare off credible challengers before the
first vote is cast,” Ashwell noted.
Among the report’s key findings:
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Major party congressional candidates who raised the most money won 92%
of their primary races in 2006, according to FEC data. Winning
candidates out-raised their opponents by a margin of 3.5 to 1, with the
winners raising an average of $1.06 million and the losers raising an
average of $304,000.
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While only 0.03% of voting age Americans made a contribution to a
candidate of $2,000 or more, these large donations accounted for more
than 29% of the individual contributions received by primary
candidates. Contributions of $200 and above, made by just 0.27% of
Americans, accounted for 82% of all the candidates’ individual
contributions.
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Overall, incumbents began the 2006 election cycle with an average of
more than $432,000 of cash on hand; incumbent Senators began their
reelection campaigns with an average of $1.43 million already on hand.
Florida PIRG is calling on congressional candidates to sign the Voters
First Pledge to limit campaign spending, provide public financing for
all candidates, restrict gifts and travel from lobbyists, and to
require full disclosure of all fundraising and contributions from
lobbyists to members of Congress.
