House Third-Party Spending: $85m for Blue, $29m for Red

by: DavidNYC

Mon Nov 03, 2008 at 1:18 AM EST

We do, however, include spending by many third-party groups, not just the DCCC and NRCC. In fact, we've tracked spending by forty-six different organizations, some of which you've heard of, many of which are obscure. The list includes the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Safari Club, SEIU, the National Association of Realtors, the Michigan Republican Party and many, many more. (Scroll down to the key at the bottom for the complete list.)

And all of these groups made choices, whether to support Team Red or Team Blue. Some supported both. At the end of the day, though, Democrats completely and utterly swamped the field. Here's a brief run-down of the sixty-nine districts which saw serious spending this cycle (note: we excluded a handful of districts where aggregate spending was under about $20K):

Total spending on Dem-held seats:
     Blue: $18,588,000
     Red: $6,035,000

Total spending on GOP-held seats:
     Blue: $66,849,000
     Red: $22,898,000

Total spending on all seats:
     Blue: $85,437,000
     Red: $28,933,000

Below the fold are two tables of district-by-district spending. The first lists Dem-held seats, the second lists GOP-held seats. Both are sorted by total amount spent in the district. Note that averages only take into account seats where a side actually spent money.

Independent Expenditure Roundup: 10/28

by: James L.

Wed Oct 29, 2008 at 2:57 AM EDT

Now, uh, I suspect that this post will be met with "scattered boos" once again, but keep in mind that the DCCC isn't done yet -- they will most likely be filing more reports tomorrow evening. (For instance, they have new ads up in WV-02 and VA-02.) Maybe we'll see a surprise or two -- or maybe not.

Independent Expenditure Roundup: 10/20-26

by: James L.

Sun Oct 26, 2008 at 10:32 PM EDT

More details on these and other expenditures are available at SSP's Independent Expenditure Tracker.

UPDATE: In the comments, a former DCCC staffer weighs in to rebut criticisms of the party's IE spending. Worth a read.

Boom Goes the Dynamite: DCCC Spends $12.6 Million in 51 Districts

by: James L.

Thu Oct 23, 2008 at 12:31 AM EDT

It was a $12.6 million day for the DCCC today, and they dumped cash in 51 races, including some first-timers like MN-06 (Bachmann), WV-02 (Capito), WY-AL (Open), and SC-01 (Brown). They've also hit the airwaves in KS-02, against the wishes of Nancy Boyda. (Good.) The NRCC, meanwhile, could only pop off a $1 million response (although they did spend $4 million yesterday).

I'm not particularly thrilled with the amount spent on Baron Hill or against Keith Fimian (an utter nobody, albeit a rich nobody), but I'm pleased to see a few more districts added to the big board.

Independent expenditures: one key to a landslide

by: David Kowalski

Wed Oct 22, 2008 at 2:30 AM EDT

Take NY-25 where Alice Kryzan won a surprising primary win.  Kryzan has been outspent about 2-1 by Christopher Lee (1,062 K to 528 K).  Lee is one of the larger self funders among GOP House candidates furnishing $650 K.  And yet, the advantage of Mr. Moneybags is eliminated if one counts the huge 884 to 77 Democratic lead in independent expenditures in the district.  It is Lee who has been outspent by a 1412 k to 1139 k margin.

Other NY House seats show a similar trend.  Eric Massa has outspent the increasingly desperate Randy Kuhl by a solid 1261 K to 883 K margin.  But Kuhl also faces a 182 k to 87 K deficit for independent expenditures putting him behind 1446 K to 970 K for double barrelled expenditures.  Dan Maffei in NY-25 stretches his lead from 1364 K to 197 K to 1509 K to 197 K.  I didn't even record NY-13 because I only followed competitive money races.

DCCC, NRCC Spend $7.8 Million

by: James L.

Wed Oct 22, 2008 at 1:20 AM EDT

The NRCC finally opens its wallet -- they spent nearly $4 million today, while the DCCC threw down $3.8 mil (but were aided by groups like the Defenders of Wildlife and the Humane Society).

I'm sure the D-trip will be filing many more ad buys tomorrow. More details are available at SSP's IE tracker.

Independent Expenditure Roundup: 10/13-19

by: James L.

Mon Oct 20, 2008 at 12:28 AM EDT

More details on these and other expenditures are available at SSP's Independent Expenditure Tracker.

DCCC, NRCC Spend $9 Million in 46 Districts

by: James L.

Wed Oct 15, 2008 at 1:07 AM EDT

*RCCNM = Republican Campaign Committee of New Mexico

Tonight marks the first time that the DCCC has spent in IN-03, NE-02 and NY-29. For the NRCC, this is their first big expenditure against Democrat Raul Martinez in FL-21. (No word yet on any DCCC response.) Not included in this rundown is Freedom's Crotch, who are spending $220K against Martin Heinrich in New Mexico's 1st District.

For more details on these and other expenditures, please consult SSP's Independent Expenditure Tracker.

Independent Expenditure Roundup: 10/6-12

by: James L.

Sun Oct 12, 2008 at 11:17 PM EDT

As always, this total does not include expenditures from 501(c)(4) groups like Freedom's Crotch (who have spent a few million bucks against Democrats in a handful of districts) and the Dem-allied Majority Action. The NRA and a few other groups are making some very piddly expenditures in a few races (the NRA on billboards in about a dozen contested districts), but they're not included in this roundup for the sake of brevity. More details are available at SSP's Independent Expenditure Tracker.

DCCC, NRCC Spend $8 Million in 40 House Races

by: James L.

Tue Oct 07, 2008 at 11:55 PM EDT

Here are the latest Independent Expenditures filed tonight by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee. In total, it was a $7.9 million day for the Republican and Democratic groups, and the biggest single-day money dump by the DCCC so far this cycle.

For more details on these and other expenditures, please consult our Independent Expenditure Tracker.

Of particular note is the titanic DCCC expenditure in Alaska against Don Young. Alaska is a cheap media market, so this must represent several weeks worth of ad time -- it could possibly be a saturation buy for the entire month.

All told, the DCCC spent money in 41 districts tonight, while the NRCC is going for concentrated bursts in just a limited number. It seems that they're going for a strategy of holding a line around a few select races rather than try to keep up with the DCCC across the board -- which is no surprise, given their extraordinarily weak cash-on-hand ($14.4 million as of September 1st).