Dem. governors say they raised $20 million in 2011

Under the chairmanship of Maryland Gov. Martin O’malley, the Democratic Governors Association raised a “record-breaking” $20 million in 2011, the group announced Tuesday.

O’malley, in a statement, called 2011“truly a banner year for Democratic governors and the DGA.” He took over leadership of the group in December 2010 and was recently elected to a second term.

The DGA did not release detailed information about donations collected in the second half of the year. In the first six months of 2011, the DGA reported contributions of $11million. The DGA reports twice a year to the IRS, which posts the data on its website.

O’malley compared the year’s total with the $12.7 million raised by the group in 2007, the comparable year in the four-year election cycle. The Maryland governor traveled to Kentucky, California and Illinois, among other states, for fundraisers. He’s used his stewardship of the organization to burnish his national profile.

The Republican Governors Association, which is headed by Virginia Gov. Robert Mcdonnell, pulled in $22 million in the first six months of 2011. That group has not released a year-end total.

“While every other Democratic campaign committee has kept pace with their GOP counterpart’s fundraising, it took the DGA an entire year to even come close to what the RGA raised in six months,” said Mike Schrimpf, an RGA spokesman. “That should worry the Democrats running for governor in 2012.”

So far this cycle, the Republican National Committee has raised $94 million and the Democratic National Committee $101million, according to figures from the Center for Responsive Politics.

DGA spokeswoman Elisabeth Smith pointed out that the RGA outspent the Democrats last year on two governors’ races but lost both. “Historically, there’s always been a disparity between the two committees,” Smith said.

Not included in the fundraising totals is money that the DGA has raised since October in its new Super PAC called DGA Action. The fund allows the group to weigh in on federal races, further expanding the organization’s reach.

In an analysis of DGA contributions for the first half of 2011, The Baltimore Sun found that some companies with interests in Maryland started giving to the DGA for the first time last year or were more generous than in the past.

For example, Exelon, which needs state approval for a $7.9 billion merger with Constellation Energy, gave $250,000,10 times more than its highest previous donation. Energy Answers, a firm building a garbageburning plant in Baltimore, gave $100,000 the same day O’malley announced that he would sign legislation that benefited the company.

O’malley has said DGA donations do not influence his policy positions.