Boehner a cash magnet for GOP

He’s on 14-state tour to drum up support for party candidates

U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, on a 14-state tour to aid GOP candidates, speaks Friday at a political fundraiser in Lincoln, N.D.
U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, on a 14-state tour to aid GOP candidates, speaks Friday at a political fundraiser in Lincoln, N.D.

LINCOLN, N.D. -- House Speaker John Boehner's fundraising skills put him in a class with few others. He has scooped up more than $43 million for accounts under his direct control and helped amass tens of millions more for Republican allies.

The Ohio lawmaker accounts for about one-fifth of the cash collected by House Republicans' campaign arm, the National Republican Congressional Committee. Boehner has written almost $18 million in checks to the group, which has raised $101 million this campaign cycle.

He is spending Congress' August break on a 14-state bus tour to help the GOP hold the majority in the House, appearing at fundraisers for candidates, including one Friday night in North Dakota for first-term Rep. Kevin Cramer.

"I'm glad he's on my team. Let's get him re-elected," Boehner said of Cramer during a fundraiser in an old dairy barn that is now an events center in Lincoln, a town of about 2,400 people southeast of Bismarck.

Boehner said it was about "saving the American dream for my kids and yours."

In the audience were about 250 lobbyists, business leaders and farmers who each paid $100 to hear Boehner and grab a hamburger, some potato salad and cookies.

By the time Boehner returns to Washington, he will have traveled 6,000 miles and appeared at campaign events for 20 Republican candidates. He will have met with party leaders and the activists behind local political organizing.

Elmer Knodel, 82, drove 85 miles from his farm in Drake for the chance to see Boehner and write Cramer a check.

"I've been corresponding with [Boehner] for years," Knodel said. "The speaker told me he was real glad to meet me."

Boehner "is probably the more important Republican in America today," North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple told donors.

Speculation about Boehner's retirement often quiets when operatives realize the role his fundraising machine plays.

Previous speaker

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., sent more than $2 million from her campaign accounts to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's unsuccessful bid to keep the party's House majority in 2010. Democrats say she helped raise more than $20 million for the committee in that year, and $27 million last year.

Pelosi, still the top Democrat in the House, has paid $1 million directly to the Congressional Campaign Committee this year and has helped it raise more than $45 million this cycle, party officials said. Her fundraising haul stands at almost $69 million for candidates and committees combined.

Pelosi tends to help other Democratic political machines raise money.

Boehner, who rose to the House's top job after 2010's Tea Party-driven elections and succeeded Pelosi as speaker, favors collecting cash through his committees and doling it out.

Boehner's Ohio re-election campaign raised $15 million and his national fundraising committee raised more than $25 million. His grass-roots committee, The Freedom Project, raised an additional almost $3 million.

His fundraising footprint is significantly larger than what appears on federal campaign tallies. He raises millions more through fundraising letters, automated phone calls and emails that carry his signature. Events like the one Friday evening add to that tally.

National Republican Congressional Committee officials declined to detail how much Boehner-backed fundraising pitches collect for them.

Even with Boehner's deep pockets and drawing power, the House Republicans' campaign committee lags behind its Democratic counterpart. Heading into July, the Democratic committee had raised almost $125 million this cycle and outraised the Republicans in 16 of the previous 18 months.

Meanwhile, the Senate Republicans' campaign arm raised more than $5 million last month and currently has almost $27 million ready to help candidates, committee aides said Saturday.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee fundraising summary shows it outpacing efforts in 2010 and 2012. The campaign committee has now raised about $76 million.

Senate Democrats' committee has not yet released its July fundraising numbers. Like other party-linked political groups, that committee has until Wednesday to do so.

But the heavy giving -- and spending -- is a sign of close races in several states, such as Kentucky, North Carolina and Iowa. Much of the party committees' budgets will go toward television advertising, direct mail and phone calls.

If Republicans pick up six Senate seats, they will claim the majority in the Senate for the first time since 2006's elections gave Democrats control of that chamber.

A Section on 08/17/2014

Upcoming Events