Campaign Money - Part Three

Today we'll take a quick look at the campaign contributions of Wayne Gilchrest, the Republican incumbent from Maryland's first district.  According to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) website, Congressman Gilchrest has reported raising a total of $174,134 - significantly less than his primary opponent, Andy Harris.  Both, however, are reporting cash on hand at the end of September of approximatly $400,000.

First, let's look at Gilchrest's contributions from Political Action Committees (PACs).  He's received $11,500 in contributions from PACs so far in this campaign.  Virtually all of the PAC contributions have come from PACs controlled by Republican leadership figures (so-called Leadership PACs).  He's received contributions from PACs controlled by Eric Cantor - the Republican Chief Deputy Whip, Mike Castle - the Republican congressman from neighboring Delaware, Charles Dent (R-PA), Ray LaHood (R-IL), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Ralph Regula (R-OH), Greg Walden (R-OR) and the Sandhills PAC controlled by Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE). 

It looks as though Gilchrest has good support on Capitol Hill and may expect more, although the amounts are not as impressive as the contributions Andy Harris received from the medical PACs.

Gilchrest reports a total of $161,285 in individual contributions, although the 208 contributions he reported account for only $52,680.  As you may recall from earlier posts, only individual contributions of $200 or more need to be reported individually.  It may be that the remaining $108, 605 consists of contributions below $200.  I'll do some more research on that.

Of the $52,680 in contributions where I can identify the contributor, about $44,000 (84%) came from residents of the First District.  A little more than $42,000 came from Eastern Shore zip codes. 

It would appear from these numbers that the Congressman has fairly broad support in his district - at least as far as contributions are concerned.  It remains to be seen if he can translate that into voter support in the Republican primary. 

Now if you're expecting me to next analyze contributions to other candidates in the Republican primary, you'll be disappointed.  Joe Arminio has reported no contributions as of September 30.  The other announced candidates - John Leo Walter and Robert Joseph Banks have not filed any reports with the FEC that I can find.