RGA, DGA Report Record Hauls
By Reid Wilson
The nation's GOV candidates will be well-funded next year, as both national party committees reported record off-year profits.
The RGA pulled in $30M over '09 and kept $25M in the bank. Meanwhile, the DGA raised $23.1M and had $17.5M left over for next year.
The RGA and the DGA are not subject to campaign finance limits placed on federal campaign committees like the NRCC and the DCCC. That enables each to raise much larger amounts of money from individual donors and from corporations.
Both parties will have to spend heavily over the next cycle: With 37 GOVships up for election, and some 2 dozen of those expected to be open seat contests, the committees have put the spotlight on races that will have a disproportionately large impact on redistricting.
The RGA started the '09-'10 cycle more successfully than their Dem counterparts. GOP nominees won races in both VA and NJ, giving them an early leg up. But both parties have had recruiting successes in advance of this year's races, and many races are considered toss-ups.
Here's a hint as to which races the committees find most important: Instead of running independent expenditure ads, the committees typically set up 3rd-party organizations, as both the DGA and the RGA did in VA last year. Setting up those committees, which are also typically funded in part by the respective state parties, is a clear sign that a national party sees a race as hugely competitive.