Campaign finance reports are out. They’re boring reading for most people but they tell a lot about campaigns. Political insiders use them to help decide which campaigns are competitive and which are not. Watchdog groups use them to see which organizations are paying for which campaigns. They also tell a lot about a candidate’s networks and relationships.
My first report was filed showing a $500 loan to open my bank account and my filing fee to the State Board of Elections. I’ll need to show a lot more than that by the March 31st report for political pundits, reporters, and handicappers to take my campaign seriously. I’m working on it.
On the other side of the race, my opponent, Congressman Richard Hudson, has raised a boatload of money. According to his report to the Federal Elections Commission, he raised almost $750,000 in 2015. In the world of Washington politics, that’s a good haul, but nothing spectacular—and you wonder why Washington has lost touch.
Of the money he raised, more than 60% of it came from special interests. He raised $453,475 from PACs. He received 183 donations from interest groups, averaging almost $2,500 per donation. The vast majority of them are in Washington, DC or its suburbs and represent everything from the insurance industry to the cable companies to Halliburton and the Koch Brothers. None are from the district.
That’s the way the game works. Hudson has been in Washington working on Capitol Hill for ten years and working in Congressional offices for years before that. He’s developed strong relationships with deep-pocketed special interests who now fund his campaign.
He’s building a big war chest to make sure he can swamp somebody like me during a campaign. He’s got a $750,000 head start funded by powerful groups who have a vested interest in keeping him in Congress. Theoretically, his campaign cash will discourage people from giving to candidates like me because his financial advantage is so great. Certainly, the interest groups will stick with him, not me.
The system is rigged to protect incumbents and those close to powerful special interests. Many pay lip service to their constituents, but they bow to their financial masters. Combined with gerrymandering, the system has perverted democracy leaving only a handful of seats competitive. According to the Cooke Political Report, only 34 out of 435 Congressional are competitive. People like Richard Hudson are beholden to special interests but unaccountable to voters.
It’s time to fight back. As a political consultant, I know that running against an incumbent is always hard. And I know that his financial advantage looks daunting. But I also know that smart campaigns don’t need the most money to win. They just need enough. I’ll make sure I have it.
Thomas Mills is the founder and publisher of PoliticsNC.com. Before beginning PoliticsNC, Thomas spent twenty years as a political and public affairs consultant. Learn more >
Good luck, already a contributor, but have 3 other candidates in NC and five nationally, so my best wishes are the limit for now. I have to say that I think the small “club” approach has appeal.
Remember Bill Hefner’s $5 Club? It raised a little money but more importantly got people involved.
It is incumbent on your faithful to spread the word among their peers to help raise money for you; that being said however, with so many campaigns all happening at the same time and so many activist related issues all being fought with insufficient funding, the task – coupled with unexpected expenses always popping up, becomes quiet daunting for those of us treading water financially – but we will do what we can. As you well know, exposure to the constituents in that district will be your greatest advantage, as I’m sure the vast majority of them are fed-up with business as usual. Grassroots networking will be the key to your hoped for success and those people are there just waiting for that ‘right some one’ to step-up to the plate. You just might be that ‘right some one’!
In greatly admire your courage and wish you well! We need good people in DC and Hudson ain’t one of them.