March 6, 2008

House Races Across the Country: Time for the GOP to Scare Up Some Dollars

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A list of the 24 Democratic-held House seats that the Republican Party is targeting in ’08 was released today, and it provided the Campaign Finance Institute with everything it needed to go to town.

The folks there compared the fundraising and cash-on-hand for the supposedly weak Democratic incumbents and their Republican challengers. Take a look at these numbers.

Arizona 8
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D) – $1,317,357 on hand
Timothy Bee (R) – $161,246 on hand

California 11
Rep. Jerry McNerney (D) – $924,605 on hand
Dean Andal (R) – $471,190 on hand

Kentucky 3
Rep. John Yarmuth (D) – $659,231 on hand
Erwin Roberts (R) – $95,076 on hand

Texas 23
Rep. Ciro Rodriquez (D) – $661,224 on hand
Francisco “Quico” Canseco (R) – $45,430 on hand

These numbers, lopsided as they are, were more or less chosen at random. In no race does the Republican challenger have more money than the Dem incumbent; in only one, New Hampshire’s 1st, is it even close. Usually, the Democrat has anywhere from two to six times the cash on hand. The exception is Oregon’s 5th, where there is no incumbent.

Check out the full list here. And check out how much each of the major party organs have here. There is a serious problem for the GOP. It’s what I meant when I said John McCain has to rebuild the Death Star.

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