High-profile incumbents pile up cash
WASHINGTON — Even though few have political opponents at this point, Ohio’s U.S. House members have started the 2018 campaign season with a whopping $16 million in the bank, according to a Dispatch analysis of campaign-finance reports.
Of the state’s 16 House incumbents, Rep. Pat Tiberi remains the fundraising leader with $6.3 million to spend. Tiberi, a Genoa Township Republican who is considered a potential 2018 opponent to Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, raised $1.37 million in the first quarter.
A Tiberi spokeswoman said he still is considering a run, although some Republicans privately say they have heard little about a primary bid and fellow Republican Josh Mandel already has declared his plan to challenge Brown.
Mandel, the Ohio treasurer, announced on Monday that he raised nearly $1.5 million last quarter between a variety of campaign and political committees and has $2.44 million in the bank. Brown, meanwhile, has announced that he raised $2.4 million and has $5 million on hand.
Viveca Novak, a spokeswoman for the Center for Responsive Politics, said that as of the end of last year, Tiberi was second only to House Speaker Paul Ryan in campaign cash. The center, a campaignfinance watchdog, has yet to tabulate the amount raised from all 435 members of the House; the filing deadline was Saturday.
Rep. Steve Stivers, an Upper Arlington Republican who is chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, the campaign arm for House Republicans, came in a distant second in fundraising to Tiberi last quarter. He raised $553,585 between Jan. 1 and March 31 and has $1.2 million in the bank.
Of the $3.3 million the 12 Republicans and four Democrats raised during the first three months of 2017, roughly 72 percent of that came from politicalaction committees. Rep. Jim Renacci, R-Wadsworth, who is running for governor, raised 99 percent of his money from PACs, including those of Exxon Mobil, Best Buy and AEP. He raised $141,255 and had $392,381 on hand.
James Slepian, a Renacci spokesman, said individuals opted not to donate to his congressional campaign after Renacci made it clear he was thinking of running for governor. Renacci cannot use the federal money in a campaign for governor.
Only four lawmakers — Reps. Tim Ryan, D-Niles; Warren Davidson, R-Troy; Steve Chabot, R-Cincinnati; and Brad Wenstrup, R-Cincinnati — received less than 50 percent of their campaign dollars from political-action committees last quarter.
Tiberi also raised the most from PACs; they gave $1.06 million — or nearly 78 percent of his first-quarter donations.
Democrats, by comparison, were on the lower end of the fundraising spectrum. Rep. Marcia Fudge, a Cleveland Democrat, raised $14,010 last quarter while Rep. Marcy Kaptur, a Toledo Democrat, raised $30,989. Both were among those to raise the overwhelming bulk of their donations from PACs last quarter. Fudge received nearly 96 percent of her money from PACs while Kaptur received nearly 94 percent of her campaign cash from political-action committees.
Among the PACs that contributed to Fudge were the Boeing Co. and United Mine Workers of America; Centrus Energy and employees of Northrop Grumman were among the PACs to donate to Kaptur. Rep. Bob Gibbs, a Lakeville Republican, was the fourth Ohio lawmaker to raise more than 90 percent from PACs last quarter; $70,000 of the $74,500 he raised was from committees representing groups including the American Sugarbeet Growers Association, Boeing and General Electric.
Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Jefferson Township, raised $75,056 last quarter and had $853,068 in the bank.
Incumbent lawmakers enter the 2018 cycle with a fairly significant electoral advantage: In 2016, only one lawmaker (Chabot) drew less than 60 percent of the vote last fall. He came close, though, with 59 percent. Fudge, who raised the fewest dollars last quarter, won in 2016 by the largest margin, garnering 80 percent of the vote.
Bloomberg reported on Monday that political polarization in Washington produced a fundraising record as donors to both parties flooded U.S. House campaigns with $96.1 million in the first quarter. That’s a 45 percent increase over the $66.2 million raised during the same period two years ago, the previous record. Republican incumbents and challengers raised $49.8 million, while Democrats pulled in $46.3 million.