NRCC Fundraising Woes Continue
By Reid Wilson
The NRCC is talking a big game about targeting a series of Dem-held seats next year, but at this pace they have yet to raise the money to convince many they can actually impact some key races.
The GOP's House campaign arm banked just $2.34M in Nov., ending the month with $4.35M in the bank and $2M in debt.
Meanwhile, the DCCC raised $3.65M in Nov., finishing the month with $15.35M in the bank and a debt of $2.66M.
Forget paying staff salaries for a moment, and DCCC chair Chris Van Hollen has a point. He noted to reporters at a Thursday press briefing that the NRCC has just over $100K to spend per race, if the party targets about 40 seats in '10.
Compare that to the closest races of the '08 cycle: The DCCC spent $720K to the NRCC's $140K in VA-05, where Rep. Tom Perriello (D) eeked out a tiny win. The DCCC spent $800K in CA-04, where Rep. Tom McClintock (R) narrowly edged out his Dem rival. And Dems spent more than $1.2M, as compared with the NRCC's $591K, in AL-02, where Rep. Bobby Bright (D) won by a hair.
In total, the GOP spent more than $500K on independent expenditures in 24 races, and at least $100K on an additional 10. The DCCC spent more than $500K on 53 races (in fact, they spent more than $1M on 38 of those contests).
At a National Journal Power Breakfast yesterday, Dem pollster Fred Yang and GOP pollster Bill McInturff agreed that at some point, money matters. The DCCC outspent the NRCC by about a 3-1 margin in '08; the DCCC subsequently beat the NRCC in 37 of the 60 districts in which Dems spent more than the GOP (The GOP won 2 of 3 races in which they spent more than Dems, while Dems won WI-08, where party spending was essentially tied).
The NRCC has reason to be optimistic about their party's chances next year. But if the money problems continue, other GOP campaign arms should start to worry that they won't have the resources to take advantage of those opportunities.
(A video of yesterday's breakfast with Yang and McInturff, along with Hotline editor-in-chief Amy Walter and the Cook Political Report's Charlie Cook, can be found here.)
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