Connecticut delegation rakes in the cash

WASHINGTON — Connecticut’s five members of the U.S. House of Representatives are kicking off their 2020 campaigns with wads of campaign cash to help propel them to reelection.

But here’s an interesting development: Republican Robert Hyde, the 5th District candidate whose text messages were released as part of the impeachment inquiry, raised $18,516 in the last three months of 2019.

That’s more than many other Republicans running for Congress in Connecticut raised in the fourth quarter, and Hyde even faced calls to end his campaign from top GOP leaders in December after he made a sexist remark about a female presidential candidate. Of course, Hyde’s explosive texts with businessman Lev Parnas were not published by House Democrats until January and since then, he’s been asked to end his campaign again by Republicans.

But last we heard, Hyde is not leaving the campaign trail. He ate lunch at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. on Friday as the impeachment trial unfolded, according to his Twitter post.

Hyde is one of four Republican men who have declared their candidacy to take on U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-5.

But unfortunately for them, the freshman representative started 2020 with her purse bursting with nearly a $1 million in campaign cash.

Hayes’ fundraising is notable because her district is the most purple in the Connecticut and while she’s an incumbent, she’s a newbie gaining her footing in the political establishment.

“With over $975K cash on hand as of December 31, we are starting this re-election campaign from a position of strength,” Hayes said. “It is a very different position from where I had to start when I first announced my candidacy in 2018, and I am grateful for that.”

But it is Rep. Jim Himes, D-4, who appears to have kicked off 2020 with the most campaign cash to spend on his re-election — a whopping $2.5 million.

I hedge over whether

Himes was Connecticut’s 2019 fundraiser of the year because by the time my editor yanked this column away from me U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2, had not filed his report with the Federal Election Commission or shared his totals via email. All candidates for Congress were required to submit fundraising reports for the fourth quarter of 2019 to the FEC by midnight Friday.

But Himes, now in his sixth term, also appears to have raised more quarter four than his fellow delegation members. He raised $288,156 from September to the end of 2019.

Does Himes’ quarter four haul reflect his role in the impeachment inquiry? As a senior member of the House Intelligence Committee, Himes played a fairly prominent role in the televised public hearings held by that committee in November.

Himes’s campaign did not answer a question about whether Himes saw an “impeachment bump” in

November around the time of his participation in the hearings.

Here’s how Himes’ fourth quarter stacked up to other members of the delegation: Rep. Joe Larson, D-1, raised $203,066 in that time and Hayes, $194,955. Voters contributed $156,677 to Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3, in quarter four.

But let’s hop the state line for some context.

A member who really saw an impeachment bump was Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., the only Republican woman who served on the House Intelligence Committee with Himes. Stefanik had a few headline-grabbing moments during the hearings and President Donald Trump tweeted out his support for her.

Stefanik raised more than $3.2 million in 2019's fourth quarter, the largest haul on record for any candidate in that congressional seat, her campaign said. That mega-haul makes Himes’s and other Connecticut Democrats’ fourth quarters look, ahem, a bit small.

Also in New York, Democrats Rep. Max Rose brought in $1.2 million in quarter four and Rep. Antonio Delgado hauled in $772,976.

But while Connecticut Democrats may not have the bulging wallets of some other members of Congress, it’s likely they have enough to win their races when you check out the fundraising of their Republican challengers.

Himes’ challenger Republican Jonathan Riddle of Norwalk raised just $5,880 in the fourth quarter. At the start of 2020, his campaign had about $7,000 on hand, but $56,173 in debt.

The Republican who is probably Hayes’ leading opponent, David Sullivan of New Fairfield, reeled in $45,932 in quarter four. He started 2020 with $46,404 to spend, and $25,000 in debt.