February 17, 2008 - 8:27am
Campaign Cash: Maine or Out-of-State?
By Wally Edge
Tags: Chellie Pingree, Ethan Strimling, Mark Lawrence, Mike Brennan, Adam Cote, Dean Scontras, Charlie Summers, Steve Meister
Does it matter where your money comes from in a campaign? That question seems to get shopped around every two years as the various campaigns attempt to test the waters with voters on that issue. We decided to do a quick check of the numbers and see how candidates in Maine’s First Congressional District fared when it comes to campaign cash from Maine versus out-of-state donations. In calculating the number, we dumped all of the candidate donations in to a spreadsheet and included every itemized donation as of December 31st, 2007. We kept it simple -- if the address was not in Maine, it was categorized as out-of state.
Candidates Brennan, Summers Lawrence and Strimling have each raised more than 70% of their campaign funds from Maine. Adam Cote is further back, with 57% of his itemized donations from Maine. Scontras, Pingree and Meister are below the 50% mark with Scontras coming in at 37%, Pingree at 30% and Meister at 14%.
There are two ways to spin this. For the folks at high end of the in-state cash percentage, the talking point is: We have support here in Maine, this a Maine based campaign and it is a testament to our grass roots support and our in-state network of supporters.
For the folks with a higher percentage of out of state cash the talking point becomes: We have national appeal, and it is the national appeal that will make sure this race is a competitive one in the fall. You can’t win without serious financial support from outside of Maine.
Sp pick your spin: Home grown - grassroots campaign for a solid Maine win or a campaign with national appeal and outside support to carry your candidate over the finish line.
% In-State
Brennan 74%
Summers 73%
Lawrence 72%
Strimling 71%
Cote 57%
Scontras 37%
Pingree 30%
Meister 14%
Article Tools
Contributors
Wally Edge
According to a new poll taken for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Senator Collins lead in the polls has shrunk and Allen now ... >
Rob Tornoe
To view a larger version of this cartoon, click here. >
Adam Cote
I attended my first political "house party" in 1994 when I was a senior in college. It was hosted by one of former U.S. Sen. George ... >
Chris Cinquemani
Because of their roles as advisors, negotiators, and spokespersons, chiefs of staff and communications staff are some of the most visible employees ... >
Poll
Should members of Maine's delegation vote for or against the $700 billion Wall Street bailout bill
For
22%
Against
56%
Depends on the details
22%
PolitickerME Partners
| Politicker INTERACTIVE | |
 |
The Pindell Report Keep up with the races in your state |
 |
Lawmaker Profile Follow the funding of your representatives |
 |
270 to Win Predict the road to the White House |
Top Tags
Most Active Stories
- DSCC poll shows Allen-Collins gap closing
- Herb Hoffman questions Allen nomination papers
- Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee releases new poll
- Allen wants a 'new direction'
- Top 10 ballot initiatives across the country
- Fed up with Taxes begins ad campaign
- McCain ads coming to Maine, but not staff
- Collins hopes McCain’s push will draw voters
- Frary touts support from Collins
- Brokeback Sheriff
- Campaign: ‘Huckabee has not wavered’
- Kucinich fans encouraged to continue their support
- First day back in the House: 5 sworn in
- Cianchette commits to free trade, reducing narcotic supply and re-learning Spanish in confirmation hearing for ambassador post
- Attack of the Ronulans
- Ron Paul supporters?
- The Republican Response - The Unabridged Version with Translation
- Rove: Obama's inexperienced; Biden's a 'big, blowhard doofus'
- Small island, big names: How North Haven produced two prominent politicians
Quote of the Day
October 6, 2008
“Maine voters have always held a lot in common with reform minded politicians."
-- State Rep. Josh Tardy (R-Newport), the vice-chairman of John McCain's campaign in Maine, on why the state is in play for the Republican presidential candidate
-PolitickerME.com, 10/03/08
Recent Press Releases
Syndicate
Great article Wally! I
Great article Wally! I appreciate how you did deliver what you talked about a few weeks ago.
I agree with you, any candidate can spin a heavy in-state contribution percentage (or the lack thereof) just like you mentioned. However, I am strong believer that in state % will at the end of the day translate to real ground support. I mean, power brokers in D.C. can contribute all they want, its the every day (democratic) Mainers that will decide in June.
Thanks Wally!!!
Wally is right
Wally Edge is correct in saying that the level of contribution a candidate gets from Mainers is an indication of their level of support here in the state--and that's why it's important to note that Chellie Pingree has raised more money from in-state contributions than any other candidate in this race. Nearly 1,300 Maine residents have contributed so far. To borrow Wally's words, that shows that "this a Maine based campaign and it is a testament to our grass roots support and our in-state network of supporters." And it's not just through contributions that Maine people support Chellie--at the caucuses last week, people stood up in over 20 towns to speak for her and over 100 volunteered to circulate her nominating petitions.
People all over the country want to see a change in Washington just as badly as we do---and they know it will take people like Chellie to stand up and make that happen. She earned a national reputation for leading the fight for health care reform here in Maine, and leading the charge against media consolidation and for net neutrality and paper trails on electronic voting machines as president of Common Cause. They understand that fixing an economy hobbled by the Bush Administration, ending a disastrous war in Iraq and taking on the special interests to reform our broken health care system are all national problems--and they understand that getting someone like Chellie in Congress is what it's going to take if we are serious about facing those challenges.
Willy Ritch
Pingree for Congress
Willy's Funny Math
Willy,
Nice to see you've put your powers of spin to work. Regarding your claim that Pingree "has raised more money from in-state contributions than any other candidate in this race." Let's check the facts.
And as Wally Edge did, we're only looking at the itemized receipts, the ones that we can document as coming from in-state or out-of-state.
Here are the real in-state figures from FEC reports.
Strimling: $203,394
Lawrence: $193,120
PINGREE: $187,970
Cote: $153,387
In other words, Pingree is actually third in in-state donations. I suppose if you add in her unitimized donations, and call them all in-state, she gets to number one. But who knows? Unless Willy would like to release the details of all those unitimized contributions.
The real issue is that Pingree has raised almost half-a-million dollars from out of state, four and five times more than any of the other candidates. I have my own opinion of what this means, but I'll leave it to other spinmeisters to turn this into something positive.
How about Allen and Collins?
How about Allen and Collins? I'm pretty sure that Allen is way ahead on the out-of-state money coming in...he's George Soros' favorite candidate
Chellie Pingree is a
Chellie Pingree is a Democrat party hack who as Director of Common Cause claimed she was "non-partisan". She would be a disaster for Maine.
The Bottom Line
I certainly understand the confusion here. Wally's post was about itemized contributions--that is, big contributions over $200. But Chellie has an awful lot of smaller contributions under that amount--contributions from average Mainers that mean a lot to her. Looking at just the in-state un-itemized contributions she's raised over $70,000 in small contributions from about 1,000 Mainers--an example of the widespread, grassroots support she enjoys.
The bottom line here: combined with the itemized instate contributions, Chellie Pingree has raised over $250,000 from Maine contributors. No other candidate in this race has that level of support.
Willy Ritch
Chellie Pingree for Congress
Non-issue.
Who cares about in-state and out-of-state contributions? Not me, and not most voters. We care about getting out of Iraq, fixing the healthcare system, and reversing climate change.
The only people that care about these percentages are candidates who need to spin some good news out of lackluster fundraising reports.
Good luck on those out-of-state casino campaigns, Dennis!
This is silly
Willy,
We have no way of verifying what percentage of those unitemized contributions are from Maine residents. Some other candidate - Ethan for example - could say ALL of his unitimized contributions ($41,000) are from Maine residents, and he would could claim exactly what you're claiming - no other candidate has raised as much money or shown more broad support from Maine people. Unless you're willing to release the details on those unitemized contributions, let's stick with itemized.
But Walt is right. Maine people are more concerned with the candidates' views on health care, the war in Iraq, jobs and energy security, and they are looking for new ideas, not stove-warmed leftovers from candidates who have been rejected by voters in the past. Let's talk about that.
Money from away
Mr. Hughes:
Your assumption is incorrect.
To date, Collins has raised $1.9M from out-of-state contributors (or 73% of her total), while Allen has been given $886,379 from people from away (or 65% of his total).
Not only has Collins raised a higher percentage of her funds from out-of-state, but the total is more than twice of what Allen has raised thus.
Post new comment