| Texas GOP Congressman Pete Sessions as chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is charged with fundraising for his party's efforts to take back the Congress. Last week, his committee suffered a major defeat in the NY-23 special election, not just because his party's nominee lost, but because his committee spent nearly $1 million in the process. Oh, and after doing so, the GOP candidate dropped out and endorsed the Democrat who won.
That expenditure wouldn't be as painful if not for the weak fundraising by the NRCC as reported in this Politico piece.
If Republicans hope to make a play for dozens of Democratic-held House seats, they'll need a well-stocked campaign account to fund all their candidates. But right now, after spending money in two contentious off-year special elections, the National Republican Congressional Committee has a long way to go to raise enough money to compete across the national map.
The National Republican Congressional Committee ended September with just $4.3 million in the bank, less than one-third of the $14.7 million banked by its Democratic counterpart. So far this cycle, NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions hasn't improved the fundraising fortunes of the committee - he's raised $10 million less than his predecessor, Rep. Tom Cole, did at this same point in the past election cycle.
And the committee took an additional financial hit in the New York 23rd District special election, spending nearly $1 million on a race in which the GOP nominee, Dede Scozzafava, ended up quitting and then endorsing the Democratic candidate. Worse, the NRCC's decision to support Scozzafava's campaign has played a role in alienating conservative donors.
Pete Sessions certainly is no John Cornyn when it comes to fundraising. Maybe he's distracted by his Democratic challenger Grier Raggio who has raised over $25,000 in wake of Sessions's comments last week suggesting that it's ok for health insurance companies to categorically charge woman higher health insurance premiums than men. |
