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10th is 10th

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Illinois

When it comes to raising money, the 10th congressional district race notches among the top 10 highest in the nation.

Opensecrets.org ranked the 10th congressional district contest as the 10th highest in the nation with candidates raising more than $5.5 million.

Incumbent Bob Dold, a Republican has raised $2.8 million and spent $844,000, according to the site.
His challenger, Brad Schneider, a Democrat, raised $1.6 million.

The 10th is actually ranked higher when you toss out the districts without major races. Speaker Boehner’s district is ranked first. Michelle Bachmann is second, Eric Cantor is 6th and Paul Ryan is 9th.

But that cash is nothing compared to what’s been raised in the Massachusetts Senate race: $53,011,580.

Wow.

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Sep 21, 12 @ 4:35 am

Comments

Bachmann’s qualifies as a major race. In cycles where Democratic turnout and enthusiasm are higher (such as 2006), she’s had close calls. We might take her challenger’s internal polls with a grain of salt, but she has reason to raise (and spend) money.

http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/ballot-2012/2012/09/10/michele-bachmanns-poll-lead-in-minnesota-is-narrowing

The Massachusetts figures are, in part, due to Senator Brown and Elizabeth Warren’s agreement to forgo any SuperPAC support. Both nominees have also demonstrated talent for raising money nationwide.

Comment by Boone Logan Square Friday, Sep 21, 12 @ 8:02 am
The 10th has been one of the most expensive for the last 12 years because of the wealth of the constituents to draw from, competitiveness of the race, and how expensive the media market is. Over the last 20 years most of these seats (wealthy suburban districts within sight of cities with socially moderate swing voters) have eventually been won by democrats. Schneider is an awful uninspiring candidate who made a goof of himself in his tribune debate so the race is competitive. There are tons of dold signs all over peoples front yards in the most liberal parts of the district so this should be much closer than Democrats wanted.

Comment by Shore Friday, Sep 21, 12 @ 8:51 am
Another reason why the 10th is so “way out there” when compared to the rest of the state.

I remember a wealthy old friend of mine who could not only donate alot of money to candidates, but was also a rainmaker when it came to politics. There were many instances where while he supported the candidate fully, he’d intentionally limit his contributions or forgo hosting fundraisers.

When I asked why, he said that some people either had enough of their own money or would get “enough” to campaign on. I think it was his way of ensuring that the dollars that were donated were used for their intended purposes, i.e., getting good people elected into office, rather than enabling bad people who were likely to use the contributions (and therefore possibly taxpayer funds) to line their own pockets and those of their friends and family.

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Sep 21, 12 @ 11:58 am
For big time spending, the California 2010 gubernatorial race is the all time king of non-presidential races (for now, at least):

Meg Whitman spent $140 million of her own money(!) on a race where nearly $250 million was spent in total. $31.7 of that was from outside groups.

So, I guess that means that Whitman and (ultimate winner) Brown raised and spent about $80 million between them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_gubernatorial_election,_2010#Campaigning

I seem to remember that, at one point, Whitman was outspending Brown something like 10 to 1. Brown won 54 to 41. Kind of the ultimate proof that money isn’t everything in an election.

Comment by jerry 101 Friday, Sep 21, 12 @ 12:58 pm
The stronger the indication becomes that President Obama will be re-elected, the stronger the likelihood is that Dold will be re-elected handily by the 10th. The vast majority of voters in the 10th are not fans of single party government– be it Illinois or nationally.

Comment by Responsa Friday, Sep 21, 12 @ 4:26 pm