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Where can I find historical political party fundraising $ numbers?

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  • Where can I find historical political party fundraising $ numbers?

    Inspired by this article
    Party Fundraising Numbers

    Arkansas Republicans continued to outpace the state Democratic Party in fundraising at the end of 2005, according to reports recently filed with the Federal Election Commission.

    Democrats reported $612,000 in receipts at the end of December and ended the year with $8,752 of cash on hand.

    Arkansas Republicans reported $1.1 million in receipts and ended the year with $92,000 of cash on hand.

    Democrats also reported a $150,000 debt, which Democratic Party of Arkansas Executive Director Gabe Holmstrom said will be paid off by filing fees for state office. Candidates file for office in March and early April. Democratic Party Chairman Jason Willett has said the debt is part of his strategy to recapture the governor's office from the Republicans.

    Gov. Mike Huckabee has held the seat since 1996 and is not allowed to seek re-election under the state's term-limits amendment.

    The Republican Party's report included a $38,000 debt. Arkansas Republican Party Executive Director Clint Reed said that figure stems from a debt that's already been paid off. Reed said he feels comfortable about his party's position heading into the election year and said he believes resources won't be a problem.
    First of all its obvious the Repubs are going to raise more money. (BUT in the past, the AR GOP has been in shambles due to violations of FEC regulations about fundraising and reporting, etc.)

    Second of all I see that this means the Repubs are going to be able to pay more for signs etc.

    Third of all I'm not worried for the Dems. We have (IIRC) 72 seats of a 100 seat state assembly, 27 of a 35-seat state senate, and 5 of 6 delegates to the national House and Senate. Arkansans are smart people.

    My questions:

    (1) Where can I find historical numbers for political fundraising especially by state?

    (2) Other than the assumption "Republicans are richer" is there a reason why the Dems raised less money? Will a difference like $600K - $1.1M really matter to what the party can do? (BTW numbers are from 2005)

    Thanks!
    meet the new boss, same as the old boss

  • #2
    (2) - It makes no difference whatsoever as to what they can do. The importance is in convincing enough people that they will do what they can. More cash, more advertising, in whatever form, whether by funding door-to-door leafleting or questionable groups claiming to represent the truth, and/or swift boat veterans.

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    • #3
      (1) I would check with the Secretaries of State of each state who usually are in charge of State election laws. I'm not confident, however, that they're online and digitized like the FEC.

      (2) States level races, for the most part, are tough places to raise money. I did a fundraiser for Asa Hutchinson, who is running in AK, IIRC, and the limit was somewhere in the neighborhood of $500. Absurdly low contribution celings certainly don't help state parties who could more easily solicit from individuals at the state level.
      If you look around and think everyone else is an *******, you're the *******.

      Comment


      • #4
        I think some of the non-profit political watchdog organizations would have those figures on their websites. Y'know, Common Cause and places like that.

        And there's always "Google."

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