Neal Leads Worcester-Area Representatives in 2010 Campaign Donations
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Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Jessica Leving
Boston University Washington News Service
10/23/09
WASHINGTON—U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, has accumulated the fourth-largest campaign war chest among House incumbents so far in the 2010 election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan organization that analyzes the campaign finance reports filed by candidates with the Federal Election Commission.
Mr. Neal, who has $2.7 million in cash on hand and has raised almost $750,000 so far this year, is far ahead of the other Massachusetts delegates, none of whom even makes the top 25 on the list of largest war chests, according to OpenSecrets.org, the center’s Web site.
Mr. Neal is also the only Worcester-area representative with opposition in 2010. Two candidates – Jay Fleitman and Tom Wesley – are seeking the Republican nomination. Rep. James P. McGovern, D-Worcester, and Rep. John W. Olver, D-Pittsfield, so far have no opponents.
Still, neither of Mr. Neal’s Republican challengers has raised a considerable amount of money and election experts say his seat is very safe.
“That Neal is taking in a great deal of money despite a dearth of competition likely means that plenty of powerful people and business interests want to stay close to him and remain in his good graces,” said Dave Levinthal, communications director for the Center for Responsive Politics.
“If you look at his career political contributions by zip code, two of his top five contributor zip codes come from Washington, D.C. – an indication that people in the nation’s capital, such as lobbyists, are also very interested in attempting to influence him,” Mr. Levinthal said.
Mr. Neal has raised $748,967, according to his third-quarter filing with the Federal Election Commission, and has spent $294,420. At the end of the 2008 election, Mr. Neal had $2.2 million unspent.
Mr. Neal sits on the powerful House Committee on Ways and Means, which makes him an influential person in the drafting of tax laws, and could be a key reason major corporations have such an interest in him.
In 2008 and so far in this election cycle, two-thirds of Mr. Neal’s donations are from political action committees, which are private interest groups organized to donate to political candidates, according to OpenSecrets
The top donors to Mr. Neal’s campaign so far, according to OpenSecrets, are KidsPAC, a Belmont-based children’s rights organization; Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, a major law firm that represents companies such as AT&T, Pohang Iron and Steel, Gila River Indian Community and PG&E Corporation; and the Investment Company Institute, the national association of investment companies.
The aggregate figures for each of these groups include donations from the group’s political action committee and individual donations from persons who are associated with the group. Companies cannot make political contributions.
Ianthe Zabel, spokeswoman for the Investment Company Institute, said her organization “supports the reelection efforts of a broad range of members and policy leaders in both parties in the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate who understand the fund industry and shareholder issues.”
Gerard D’Amico, 62, a self-employed lobbyist from Worcester who has donated $500 to Mr. Neal and $1,050 to Mr. McGovern this election cycle, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission, said he contributes to many candidates.
“I am a big supporter of Neal and McGovern,” he said. “I express my support in a variety of ways. Some of it is donations, some of it is putting up signs on my lawn or bumper stickers on my car. I believe politics is a participatory process and people should get involved.”
But Mr. Neal isn’t holding on to all of the money he accumulates. He has used a small amount, approximately $11,400 so far this election cycle, according to the center, to make donations to Democrats in contested campaigns and to the Democratic Party—a very common practice for senior members of Congress.
He made contributions of $1,000 each to U.S. Reps. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii, who is running for governor, Dan Maffei, D-N.Y., Gerry Connolly, D-Va.,. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., and Ann Kirkpatrick, D-Ariz.
Mr. Neal also helps raise money for Madison PAC, a leadership political action committee formed to help contribute to other candidates’ campaigns. So far in the 2010 election cycle, the PAC has raised $128,100 and donated $18,270.
“It’s a common practice for members in a safe a position to use money to further the cause of other Democrats who need it more,” said David Wasserman, House of Representatives editor of the Cook Political Report. “It’s a way for these members to build influence within their caucus. In Neal’s case he obviously wants to climb higher in seniority on Ways and Means. He’ll be able to help his hometown of Springfield more, and that’s an incentive for him. The key will be to watch what he does in 2010.”
Mr. Neal is a fifth-ranking Democrat and chairman of the Select Revenue Measures subcommittee of the House Committee on Ways and Means.
“As a senior member of the House, [Mr. Neal] has obligations to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and he has generously contributed to many of his colleagues running for re-election across the country,” said William Tranghese, spokesperson for Mr. Neal, and added that the congressman plans to make additional contributions in upcoming months. “Modern political campaigns are increasingly expensive and candidates need to be proactive when it comes to preparing for their re-election efforts.”
Mr. McGovern, who has raised the second-largest amount of money of the three Worcester-area representatives ($485,213 to date), has also made several donations to other Democrats’ campaigns.
For this election cycle, OpenSecrets reports that McGovern made approximately $14,400 in contributions—including $1,000 each to Abercrombie, to U.S. Reps. David R. Obey, D-Wis., and Scott Murphy, D-N.Y., and to Terry McAuliffe, who sought this year’s Democratic nomination for governor of Virginia.
Mr. McGovern has raised $485,213 for the 2010 race so far, and spent $252,559, according to his third-quarter filing with the Federal Election Commission.
The top three donors to his campaign so far are the American Association for Justice, an association of trial lawyers; AstraZeneca PLC, a leading pharmaceutical company, which has a supply facility in Westborough, in Mr. McGovern’s district; and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Union, which represents more than 730,000 workers in the airline, shipbuilding and railroad industries, according to OpenSecrets.
“Two issues that McGovern supports that are very important to us are the Employee Free Choice Act and the Trade Reform Act,” said Frank Larkin, spokesman for the union. “Those are just two of the reasons that we’re supporting him.”
“I like Jim McGovern,” said Robert A. Bernstein, 48, of Framingham, a consultant with Bay State Strategies Group who has donated $750 to Mr. McGovern, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission. “I think he’s an incredibly capable and hardworking congressman,” said Bernstein, who added that he is a personal friend of Mr. McGovern.
Of the total contributions to Mr. McGovern’s campaign, 33 percent have come from political action committees, OpenSecrets reports.
In contrast to Mr. Neal, Mr. McGovern is receiving the vast majority of his support from local Massachusetts interests, according to the geographic breakdown of donations provided by OpenSecrets. At this point in the 2010 campaign, only 34 percent of his contributions have come from out-of-state, compared to 68 percent for Mr. Neal.
In District 1, Mr. Olver has raised only 14 percent of his campaign contributions from out-of-state, according to OpenSecrets.
Mr. Olver, who has raised $227,023 thus far in the 2010 campaign cycle, was in the bottom half of OpenSecret’s list of House members with the most cash on hand.
“It’s probably all the money John Olver will need between now and when he retires,” Mr. Wasserman said. “The cost of advertising in the Springfield media market is relatively low. His district is so overwhelmingly Democratic that Republicans wouldn’t touch it with a ten-foot-pole. Olver doesn’t set the world on fire, but in Amherst he is a deity.”
“Something else at work is that Massachusetts will lose a congressional seat in 2012,” Mr. Wasserman added. “And when that happens, the state legislature, dominated by Boston politicians, is going to have to merge two districts somewhere in the state. The betting right now is that those districts are Neal’s and Olver’s, and the betting is that Olver will retire in 2012 if he doesn’t in 2010.”
Congressional districts are redrawn every ten years when the U.S. Census Bureau reports are released, but the Bureau also publishes yearly population estimates that some outside organizations use to project congressional redistricting, said Robert Bernstein, a spokesperson for the Bureau.
Mr. Olver has also spent less than the other Worcester-area representatives, with $130,381 in reported expenditures, according to OpenSecrets. The bulk of those expenditures (approximately $31,500) went to administrative costs, and only $2,000 went to another Democratic candidate—in March, Mr. Olver contributed that sum to the political action committee for U.S. Rep. Scott Murphy, D-N.Y., according to OpenSecrets.
Of those who have donated to Mr. Olver’s campaign so far, the top three donors are American Crystal Sugar, an agricultural cooperative; the Operating Engineers Union, which represents more than 400,000 heavy-equipment operators, mechanics, construction surveyors and operations and maintenance workers; and Global Petroleum. In all, 35 percent of Mr. Olver’s contributions have come from political action committees, OpenSecrets reports.
SIDEBAR GRAPHIC:
(Sources of information: Federal Election Commission and the Center for Responsive Politics)
Rep. James P. McGovern, D-Worcester
Total raised to date: $485,213
Total spent to date: $252,559
Top three donors*: American Association for Justice; AstraZeneca PLC; Machinists/Aerospace Workers Union
Top three industries: Law firms, Pharmaceuticals, Lobbyists
Percent from Political Action Committees: 33%
Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield
Total raised to date: $748,967
Total spent to date: $294,420
Top three donors*: KidsPAC; Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld; Investment Company Institute
Top three industries: Insurance, electric utilities, law firms
Percent from Political Action Committees: 66%
Rep. John W. Olver, D-Pittsfield
Total raised to date: $227,023
Total spent to date: $130,381
Top three donors*: American Crystal Sugar; Operating Engineers Union; Global Petroleum
Top three industries: Law firms, real estate, retirees
Percent from Political Action Committees: 35%
*“Donors” refers to both political action committees, which collect personal donations from employees of a particular company, and personal contributions by individuals associated with that company made directly to the candidate. Companies cannot make political contributions.
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