Fact Sheet - Who Gets

FACT SHEET

AMERICANS FOR CAMPAIGN REFORM

Money in Politics: Who Gets Incumbents Out-Raise Challengers 5 to 1 •

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Incumbent candidates for the House raised an average of $1.4 million in 2008, more than four times the amount raised by challengers and more than twice the amount raised by open seat candidates. Incumbent candidates for the Senate raised an average of $8.7 million, almost six times more than challengers and nearly four times more than open seat candidates. In keeping with historical trends, incumbents were overwhelmingly reelected in 2008, winning 94% of House races and 86% of Senate races.

Major Industries Strongly Favor Incumbents •

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Incumbent candidates received the lion’s share of campaign contributions from major industry groups in 2008, regardless of political party. Energy industry contributors, including oil, gas, electric, and coal interests, directed 82 percent of their campaign contributions to incumbents in 2008. Wall Street contributors, including the finance and insurance industry, directed 74 percent of their campaign contributions to incumbents in 2008. Pharmaceutical industry contributors directed 89 percent of their giving to incumbents in 2008.

Industry Targets Key Committee Members •

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Energy interests contributed an average of $393,000 and $280,000 to Senate and House members of the key energy and environmental committees, 3 to 6 times their average giving to all Members. Finance and insurance interests contributed an average of $2.2 million and $1.5 million respectively to Senate and House members of key financial, banking, and tax committees, 10 times their average for all Members. Pharmaceutical interests contributed an average of $210,432 and $163,280, respectively, to Senate and House members of key health, tax, and regulatory committees, 3 to 6 times their average for all Members. Sources: Analysis of Federal Election Commission [www.fec.gov] and Center for Responsive Politics [www.opensecrets.org] data

Fig. 1: Avg. Funding per Incumbent, Challenger, Open Seat Candidate, 2008 (millions) Incumbent

Challenger

$1.50

$10

$1.25

$8

$1.00

Open Seat

$6

$0.75 $4

$0.50

$2

$0.25 $0

$0 House

Senate

Fig. 2: Percentage of House and Senate Incumbents Reelected, 1990-2008 100% 80% 60% 40% House

Senate

20% 0% ʻ90

ʻ92

ʻ94

ʻ96

ʻ98

ʻ00

ʻ02

ʻ04

ʻ06

ʻ08

Fig. 3: Percentage of Industry Contributions to Incumbents v. Challengers, 2008 100% Incumbents

Challengers

80% 60% 40% 20% 0% Energy

Finance/Insurance

Pharma

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8/25/09