Close This Window
Article published Jul 17, 2008 Souder trailing campaign cash race Unions' $60,000 gift lifts Democratic rival
WASHINGTON - Donors, especially political action committees, were more generous to Democrat Michael Montagano's congressional campaign during the spring than to that of incumbent Rep. Mark Souder, R-3rd. That's landed Souder in a situation most incumbents never see: lagging in the money race.
As the election season cranks up, Montagano's campaign has $28,000 more on hand than Souder, making him one of the few candidates in the country with a healthier campaign bank account than the incumbent.
Montagano's bottom line was helped especially by six unions that each gave him $5,000, bringing their collective total donations to $60,000.
The two are competing for the northeast Indiana congressional seat Souder has held for 14 years. Montagano, 27, is an attorney who lives in Bristol. He has never run for elective office.
Since mid-April, the last time the candidates disclosed their fundraising information, Souder collected $89,873. He has $323,339 in the bank and lists $2,639 in debts. Montagano raised $141,407 and has $351,702 on hand.
The biggest disparity between the candidates' fundraising patterns from mid-April through June 30 is the amount of PAC contributions each collected. Montagano took in $53,900 from PACs operated primarily by unions. Sounder received $29,775, primarily from business interests.
Souder, 57, won re-election in 2006 with 54 percent of the vote, which is considered in political circles evidence that the incumbent is not on solid political footing. He has said he ramped up his fundraising effort earlier during this two-year cycle.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which works to elect Democratic House members, recently added Montagano to its list of up-and-comers. He and 19 other candidates trying to unseat a GOP opponent are on the committee's third tier of candidates, behind Democrats in seats where no incumbent is running and Democrats the committee thinks have a good chance of beating a Republican officeholder.
Charlie Cook, editor of the non-partisan Cook Political Report, recently downgraded Souder's chances of re-election from “solid” to “likely.”
In addition to their Democratic opponents, GOP congressional incumbents are fighting other political forces this year: an unpopular Republican president; polls that show Americans have a dim view of Congress; and a presidential campaign that will sap much of the financial resources of potential donors.
“Nothing is going to fix the Republican brand between now and November,” GOP strategist Glen Bolger said Wednesday.
He added that national Republican organizations that have helped GOP candidates with money in past years will “have to make coldhearted decisions this year” because the political landscape is so bleak and because national Republican committees have raised significantly less money than Democratic organizations.”
Bolger, a partner in the polling firm Public Opinion Strategies, said the GOP committees will have to target resources based on “who's savable and who's not - including incumbents.”
Among other northern Indiana candidates:
•Rep. Dan Burton, R-5th, has $336,538 on hand. He raised $1 million since the beginning of 2007 and has spent nearly $1.5 million. Burton's Democratic opponent, Mary Etta Ruley, has raised less than $5,000.
•Rep. Mike Pence, R-6th, has $739,104 on hand. He raised nearly $1.2 million since the beginning of 2007 and has spent $799,000. His Democratic opponent, Barry Walsh, has $8,093 on hand and $8,156 in debts.