Paul Herrnson states in Congressional Elections that, “A PAC can be best understood as the electoral arm of an organized interest. Interest groups form PACs to give campaign contributions or services directly to federal or, in some cases, state or local candidates in the hope of influencing election outcomes, the formation o public policy, or both” (133). I know I have talked about money and how important it is, but this post is different I am going to mostly focus on PACs and what it means for a candidate to receive money from one.
Both Rep. Murphy and Caligiuri have received contributions from PACs, Caligiuri $9,000 which accounts for only 1% of his campaigns financing. While 33% of Murphy’s campaigning finances is covered from contributions from PACs to the total of around $685,000 from 450 different PACs.According to Herrnson “PACs make most of their contributions to candidates in close elections, in which the PACs have the biggest chance of affecting an election outcome.” (141) Using that theory from Herrnson, then interest groups think it would be best and also that they have a better chance to get want they want done if Murphy is reelected both hurts and helps his campaign. It helps Murphy in that he has over $675,000 more than Caligiuri does, but at the same time it hurts him because it just makes Murphy seem like any other disliked DC politician. Which in today’s political time may not be the best thing for him, seeing how there is such a big movement for ‘clearing the House’.
As can be seen in polls by Gallup, were more Republicans are ready/energized to vote than Democratic voters in the up coming election. Also according to Gallup more registered votes prefer a Republican candidate to a Democratic one (Gallup Graphs). So come November we will have to see if the PACs worked for or against Murphy and also if Herrnson is correct with the idea that “Interest groups, like parties, play important supporting roles in congressional elections.” (165)
Both candidates PAC breakdown (PAC info for CT-5)
Chris Murphy (D)
Both candidates PAC breakdown (PAC info for CT-5)
Chris Murphy (D)
| Business | $485,824 |
| Labor | $181,500 |
| Ideological | $29,000 |
Sam Caligiuri (R)
| Business | $3,000 |
| Ideological | $6,010 |
Do you think it's really the impact of the interest groups and PACs, or could it be the fact that he is an incumbent that is the underlying cause of Murphy receiving so much contribution? It's most likely a combination of both factors, but I think mostly the fact that Murphy is an incumbent and has help from his buddies in Congress.
ReplyDeleteI was pretty shocked reading this post how much of a disparity there is in terms of fundraising between the two candidates. Caliguiri has raised a seemingly comical amount of money compared to Murphy. Obviously the incumbent is going to have an advantage financially, but Murphy is just making this guy look bad.
ReplyDeleteThe difference in the money raised between the two candidates is extroidinary but not too shocking. Incumbents have a serious advantage in raising money. Not only do they received donations around election time but they have the course of their term to earn funds.
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