View on Congressional Elections

The Democratic Party is doing much better in congressional elections compared to the Republicans. This is due to the Democrats out-raising the Republicans in cash through a base of donors who give in small amounts. The Democrats are knocking of Republican incumbent seats in the congress and replacing them with strong competitive Democratic candidates. This race will be very challenging for the Republicans, and the Republicans money cannot be used to defend incumbent seats, therefore leaving 30 seats open.

   Incumbents are also known to have raised more money in the past compared to challengers and open seats. Congressional candidates get no government funds and money must come from individual donors or from their own pockets. There are rules that limit an individual on how much and individual can give due to the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act. Donors tend to not be fat cats, so people contribute $100 to $200 dollars. But the controversy of the contents with the articles is that in the congressional elections this year, the trend is really different. Republican incumbents are being knocked off their seats due to raising little money from their campaigning. And all the new challengers who are mostly Democratic have out risen the Republicans in raising funds. Incumbents are also shown to become somewhat a burden to the party because the Republican party does not have enough money to defend the incumbents which caused to the 30 seats being left open. The Democrats have created base old donors who give small donations, around $100 to $200 each as mentioned in the textbook. And through this money, they were able to raise more money than the Republicans, which has not happened since 1991. The Republicans have not created a base of donars who donate in smaller amounts and since the Campaign Finance Reform in 2002, it has been hard for them to recruit new contributors.