{"id":5772,"date":"2015-10-28T07:00:06","date_gmt":"2015-10-28T11:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/?p=5772"},"modified":"2015-10-28T09:26:29","modified_gmt":"2015-10-28T13:26:29","slug":"fundraising-in-congressional-district-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/?p=5772","title":{"rendered":"Fundraising in Congressional District 8"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, I am pleased to present a guest post by Adam Pagnucco:<\/em><\/p>\n

Money talks and people are talking about money. That\u2019s the vibe in CD8, which could turn out to be the most expensive congressional race in Maryland history. Bethesda Magazine\u2019s Lou Peck<\/a> and the Washington Post\u2019s Bill Turque<\/a> have written about the overall numbers and individual donors in the race. Today, I dig deep into the data to reveal more details of the Democratic candidates\u2019 fundraising.<\/p>\n

First, the top-line numbers through the third quarter reported by Kathleen Matthews, Senator Jamie Raskin (D-20), Delegate Kumar Barve (D-17), Will Jawando, Delegate Ana Sol Gutierrez (D-18), David Anderson and former Montgomery County Council Member Valerie Ervin (who has withdrawn). Much of this has already been reported and it shows Matthews first, Raskin a close second and Barve third. With almost $3 million raised and more than two quarters to go, this race looks like a record breaker.<\/p>\n

\"CD8<\/a>Unlike state and county contributions, federal contributions must be designated for the primary or the general. Among primary contributions, Matthews\u2019 lead over Raskin grows slightly.<\/p>\n

\"CD8<\/a>Burn rate is the percentage of money raised that has already been spent. Matthews\u2019 burn rate (16%) is far lower than Raskin\u2019s (25%) or Barve\u2019s (35%). That reflects her strategy of saving up for television.<\/p>\n

\"CD8<\/a>Matthews leads in big contributions. Her average individual contribution is nearly twice the amount of the rest of the field. Almost half of her fundraising has come from maximum individual contributions of $2,700 each. So far, Matthews has received more maximum checks than the rest of the field combined.<\/p>\n

\"CD8<\/a>While Matthews has raised the most money, Raskin has a big edge in money raised in Maryland. In-state contributions have accounted for half of Raskin\u2019s total, much higher than Matthews\u2019 23%. Barve\u2019s in-state 45% ranks second, though he has raised less than half of Raskin\u2019s total in Maryland.<\/p>\n

\"CD8<\/a>Here\u2019s a look at fundraising from individuals in selected communities. The top seven locations are the largest population centers in CD8. Matthews leads in Chevy Chase and (narrowly) in Potomac, but Raskin has the lead in most other places. The bottom seven locations are major sources of contributions outside CD8 and Matthews leads everywhere (including in D.C.). Interestingly, Matthews has raised more money from New York City than from Bethesda. Also, Matthews has raised more money from Los Angeles than from Silver Spring, Takoma Park, Rockville and Kensington combined. That reflects her ability to tap into the Democratic establishment\u2019s national donor network.<\/p>\n

\"CD8<\/a>Here are a few takeaways from this data.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Kathleen Matthews\u2019 campaign was predicated on blowing away the rest of the field in fundraising. That is happening with the notable exception of Senator Jamie Raskin, who has so far remained close to her. One factor that could change that is if Matthews\u2019 wealthy supporters open a Super PAC on her behalf. Super PACs are not supposed to coordinate directly with candidate campaigns, but they can raise unlimited contributions and spend them on both positive and negative communication. One can easily imagine twenty Matthews supporters each chipping in $100,000, thereby instantaneously bringing an extra $2 million into the race for their candidate.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \n
    1. Senator Raskin\u2019s strategy of community organizing is paying off big-time for his fundraising. He is leading or nearly tied in fundraising in every populous CD8 community except Chevy Chase and his relatively low average contribution rate leaves plenty of room for repeat contributions. His two biggest challenges are countering Matthews\u2019 likely appeal to women and what happens to his campaign once he has to go back to Annapolis for session next January.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
        \n
      1. The other candidates are either plainly non-viable or on the verge of getting there because they have not been able to keep up in the money race. That may have been a factor behind the Sierra Club\u2019s endorsement of Senator Raskin<\/a>. Delegate Barve is the Chair of the House Environment and Transportation Committee and that gives him enormous ability to shape state environmental legislation. He has been a serious player on a wide range of environmental issues that long predates Senator Raskin\u2019s service in the General Assembly. The Sierra Club faced a tough choice between the two candidates from the perspective of policy and record, but they chose to jump in for Raskin. That\u2019s not a knock on Barve, but more likely a judgment that Raskin is a stronger choice to take on Matthews. If more progressive groups make that kind of decision, the race will consolidate into a two-person contest between Matthews and Raskin.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        And if that happens, here is the key question that will determine who wins. What will matter more? Senator Raskin\u2019s large, enthusiastic and growing grassroots network? Or Kathleen Matthews\u2019 fundraising prowess, media skills<\/a> and membership in the electorate\u2019s largest sub-component, white women? Your guess is as good as mine!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Today, I am pleased to present a guest post by Adam Pagnucco: Money talks and people are talking about money. That\u2019s the vibe in CD8, which could turn out to be the most expensive congressional race in Maryland history. Bethesda Magazine\u2019s Lou Peck and the Washington Post\u2019s Bill Turque have written about the overall numbers … Continue reading Fundraising in Congressional District 8<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[128],"tags":[1301,1545,1502,1308,1473],"class_list":["post-5772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-congress","tag-mdcd8","tag-adam-pagnucco","tag-jamie-raskin","tag-kathleen-matthews","tag-kumar-barve"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4mKJE-1v6","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5772","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5772"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5772\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5780,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5772\/revisions\/5780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}