Democrats face pricey primaries, spread-out funds

GOP candidates have more in bank in 17 of 23 close races

WASHINGTON -- The surge of enthusiasm among Democrats that has produced a record number of candidates for Congress this year has come at a cost: spread-out donations and campaign accounts drained by expensive primary fights.

Even as Democratic donors lavish money on the party's U.S. House candidates in the first midterm election of Donald Trump's presidency, an analysis of last week's Federal Election Commission filings shows that Republican candidates have more money in the bank in 17 of 23 districts rated as toss-ups in November by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.

"Republicans owe their advantage to incumbency in most of these close races," said Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics, a campaign finance research group in Washington. "Victors of wide-open primaries with well-funded opponents are usually left with depleted coffers."

Plenty of time remains for fundraising before the November election. But the current imbalance suggests a potential advantage for Republicans who may have more resources in the early phase of the general election campaign to define their Democratic opponents in unflattering ways.

Bloomberg's review looked at the highest campaign bank balances for individual candidates from both parties in the 23 most competitive districts.

The financial effect of a crowded field is illustrated by a race in suburban Houston, where Democrats Lizzie Pannill Fletcher and Laura Moser are spending heavily leading up to a May 22 runoff for the right to challenge nine-term Republican incumbent John Culberson.

While represented by a Republican in the House, the district was won by Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election. That has made it a top target for the Democratic Party, its donors and even for candidates, seven of whom ran in the March 6 primary. Fletcher and Moser emerged on top.

Fletcher has raised $1.2 million for her campaign, while Moser has pulled in $1.1 million. Culberson raised $1.5 million.

But the two women spent a combined $1.8 million through March 31 with almost two months to go in the runoff race. Fletcher had $391,899 in her campaign account, while Moser had $92,177. Culberson, who faced no serious primary opposition, reported having $920,705 in the bank.

Adding to the intensity of the Democratic race in Texas' 7th Congressional District is that it's also a fight between the establishment wing of the Democratic Party and the more liberal branch that rallied behind Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary.

Before the primary, the national committee that oversees Democratic House election campaigns took the unusual step of releasing a disparaging memo about Moser, a writer and activist, because it feared that she's too liberal to win a general election in the affluent and highly educated area. Fletcher, a lawyer, has the support of national Democratic groups.

The big field of Democratic candidates across the country has diluted the party's fundraising advantage. In the 23 contests reviewed, Federal Election Commission filings show Democrats with active campaigns took in $53.6 million through the first quarter of 2018, compared to $40.2 million for Republicans. Those dollars, however, have been split among many more Democrats than Republicans, 75 to 38.

When overall totals for the top Republican and top Democratic fundraising candidate in all 23 districts are aggregated, the Republicans have $27.6 million in the bank, compared with $17.7 million for Democrats.

Another high-profile example of the cost to Democrats of crowded primaries can be found in the Virginia suburbs outside Washington. Clinton carried Republican Rep. Barbara Comstock's district by 10 percentage points, and that has put her on the list of most vulnerable Republican incumbents in the House.

The field of Democratic challengers in Virginia's 10th District includes two former officials in President Barack Obama's administration, a state senator, a former federal prosecutor, an Iraq war veteran and an infectious-disease specialist. Four of them have raised $850,000 or more, with Alison Friedman, a former State Department official and anti-human-trafficking activist, leading the pack with almost $1.4 million raised.

While Friedman has excited Democratic donors most, state Sen. Jennifer Wexton, in second place with $928,000 in receipts, has the endorsements of Virginia lawmakers including U.S. Reps. Gerry Connolly and Donald McEachin. Dan Helmer, who began his campaign for the seat with a widely panned parody of Top Gun, has raised $895,000.

A Section on 04/22/2018

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