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By Kirsten Adshead | Wisconsin Reporter
THE CASH is flowing in Wisconsin congressional races.
MADISON — Wisconsin Reporter has been perusing and analyzing the Federal Election Commission reports filed last week that detail congressional candidates’ third-quarter campaign earnings and expenses. Here is the final wrap-up of candidates who have filed FEC reports during this campaign:
1st CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
Seven-term Republican seeking re-election in the 1st Congressional District seat
Received this period: $465,645.02
Spent this period: $1,881,398.44
Cash on hand: $4,002,660.37
Ryan may have taken in less money this quarter than his Democratic challenger, but with $4 million on hand, he’s hardly sweating for cash.
A return to Congress, of course, is Ryan’s back-up plan. He’s hoping to be the next vice president of the United States, and national polls show a dead heat between the Mitt Romney/Ryan ticket and the Barack Obama/Joe Biden ticket.
Ryan’s campaign made $2,815.15 in money-market interest in quarter three – just a bit more than the $2,188.07 his campaign spent on postage during the same period.
Democrat seeking the 1st Congressional District seat
Raised this period: $732,011.24
Spent this period: $363,289.33
Cash on hand: $824,604.74
In the race to replace one of the best-known Republicans in the country, Zerban is holding his own.
He actually outraised Ryan during the three-month period – although he has significantly less cash in the bank.
But $824,604.74 can go a long ways in the six weeks before an election. And, if the Romney/Ryan ticket wins the presidential election, what’s left over could give Zerban a leg up in the special election to fill Ryan’s empty congressional seat, if Zerban were to choose to run.
2nd CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
Democrat running for the 2nd Congressional District seat left open by Tammy Baldwin, who is running for U.S. Senate
Received this period: $262,613.06
Spent this period: $400,173.09
Cash on hand: $134,614.47
Biggest expenditure: $87,100, media buy to SKDKnickerbocker, which in total received $205,092 this period.
Pocan, who is expected to win his race in the Democratic-heavy district, also is spreading the wealth around to his fellow Democrats. He gave $100 to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin for “financial assistance for College Democrats.” He also contributed $2,000 each to Wisconsin Democrats’ Pat Kreitlow and Jamie Wall’s congressional campaigns, and gave $1,000 a piece to two Minnesota Democrats’ congressional campaigns.
Republican running to replace Baldwin in the 2nd Congressional District
Received this period: $18,469
Spent this period: $25,929.38
Cash on hand: $5,345.19
Lee’s campaign-finance report exemplifies the difficulties of being a considerable underdog: It’s typical for advertising to be one of a campaign’s largest expenses, and that’s true for Lee.
But his ad buys weren’t in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. In the third quarter, Lee spent $3,274.75 on advertising — $474.75 at Tiltmedia in Madison, and $2,800 at Glenview, Ill.-based Cascia Films LLC
3rd CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
Eight-term Democrat representing the 3rd Congressional District
Raised this period: $336,586
Spent this period: $372,577
Cash on hand: $737,725
Kind’s campaign spent $289,874 on advertising with MacWilliams Sanders Communicationfor placements such as this.
His campaign also spent $2,575.20 at Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar in Palo Alto, Calif., for a Sept. 14 campaign event.
Republican seeking the 3rd Congressional District seat
Received this period: $25,125.70
Spent this period: $26,753.46
Cash on hand: $7,841.84
If Boland hopes to unseat long-time congressman Ron Kind, his campaign expenditures indicate he thinks yard signs – $12,263.87 of them, to be exact – will do the trick.
Yard signs account for nearly half of all the money Boland’s campaign spent in the third quarter of this year.
They were by far his largest expense, with the remaining $13,000 going for typical campaign expenses, such as rent, website management and consultants.
4th CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
Four-term Democrat representing the 4th Congressional District
Raised this period: $90,627
Spent this period: $115,432
Cash on hand: $66,934
On catering, Moore’s campaign spent $3,083 at Clyde’s of Gallery Place in Washington, D.C., and $4,812 at Hyatt Hotels in Chicago.
She’s added “Star” power, too. On Sept. 22, Moore’s campaign paid former “The View” host Star Jones $7,000 to speak at a “Not for Sistah’s Only” campaign event.
Moore’s campaign also paid fundraising consultant, Christopher Trull, of Washington, D.C., $9,700. The campaign also reimbursed Trull $950 for an August stay at the Ambassador Hotel, along with other expenses, in Milwaukee.
Republican seeking the 4th Congressional District seat
Received this period: $6,253
Spent this period: $4,374.26
Cash on hand: $5,540.31
Sebring’s campaign finance filings reflect exactly the kind of campaign you can fund when your campaign contributions don’t even near $10,000: $200 for placemat advertising, $207.45 for palm cards, $807.50 for radio ads and a handful of cell phone payments.
Five thousand dollars, give or take, doesn’t get you far in Milwaukee.
5th CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
Seventeen-term Republican seeking re-election in the 5th Congressional District
Received this period: $87,965.26
Spent this period: $32,545.12
Cash on hand: $404,857.12
You don’t need to spend much when you’re all-but-a-sure-bet to win re-election.
Sensenbrenner’s biggest expense this quarter was a credit card bill: He made a $6,455 payment to U.S. Bank on Aug. 24, as well as a $2,216.08 payment 11 days earlier.
Other than that, he spent a chunk of money on fundraising this quarter, including $2,243.96 for fundraiser room rental, food and beverage to the Hyatt in Tampa, Fla., on Aug. 24, days before the Republican National Convention.
With more than $400,000 on hand, however, it appears Sensenbrenner has yet to spend much of whatever he’s been raising.
Democrat seeking the 5th Congressional District seat
Did not file a Q3 report
6th CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
Republican seeking re-election in the Sixth Congressional District, which he represented since 1979
Received this period: $75,237.35
Spent this period: $75,660.67
Cash on hand: $929,680.26
You don’t need to spend much when you’re all-but-a-sure-bet to win re-election. It’s a trend, apparently.
Petri’s done a bit of campaigning this quarter, spending 11,303.16 on direct-mail solicitations.
But the bulk of his cash this quarter went to … raising more cash. He spent $36,793.75 during the past three months on fundraising retainers and commissions.
With nearly $1 million in the bank, however, it’s still unclear what he intends to do with the money.
Democrat seeking the 6th Congressional District seat
Received this period: $4,702.87
Spent this period: $2,752.97
Cash on hand: $3,116.70
Kallas’ campaign finances are the surest of signs that virtually everyone believes Petri will win.
Money isn’t everything in politics, but unseating an incumbent takes more than a few yard signs. And, with a few weeks to go before the election, Kallas has yet to prove that he is serious competition.
7th CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
Republican freshman representing the 7th Congressional District
Raised this period: $513,838.03
Spent this period: $672,704.40
Cash on hand: $937,880.32
Duffy’s biggest expense, in total, was a series of payments he made to Strategic Media Placement Inc. for ad buys and related expenses, totaling $450,037.
He raised $256,575 from individuals this quarter, but also took in $216,635.93 from 105 non-political party committees, mostly political action committees.
Democrat seeking the 7th Congressional District seat
Received this period: $289,282.37
Spent this period: $383,554.46
Cash on hand: $342,145.08
This race, Democrats are actually contesting.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has given Kreitlow $10,000, and he’s received contributions from other political campaigns as well, including $2,000 from House Minority Whip Jim Clyburn’s committee.
Ousting first-term Republican Sean Duffy may be a long-shot, but Kreitlow and the Democratic Party at least see enough potential that they’re willing to put in the time and effort to contest the seat.
Kreitlow, meanwhile, has been busy on the road: On Sept. 30, his campaign reimbursed him $4,259.50 in mileage – perhaps not surprising given the fact that the district encompasses roughly one-quarter of Wisconsin, stretching all the way from Wausau up to Lake Superior and then west to the Minnesota border.
Candidate of unknown party seeking the 7th Congressional District seat
Received this period: $60
Spent this period: $392.58
Cash on hand: $275.58
Lehner has $275.58 on hand. That pretty much sums up the status of his campaign.
8th CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
Republican freshman representing the 8th Congressional District
Raised this period: $426.275.19
Spent this period: $812,681.80
Cash on hand: $488,817.89
Ribble’s biggest expense this quarter was advertising. He gave OnMessage Inc. $232,514 on Aug. 21, and followed that up with another ad buy Sept. 15 for $382.646.19.
It pays to consult: Ribble’s campaign paid Mary Mai, of Appleton, $34,535.26 over three months, mostly for fundraising consulting.
He also spent $16,924.22 on event catering.
Democrat seeking the 8th Congressional District seat
Received this period: $246,390.17
Spent this period: $496,830.78
Cash on hand: $255,799.24
Wisconsin’s 8th Congressional District seat isn’t a top-tier race on the national scene.
But whether or not Wall thinks he can win, he’s certainly willing to back up his efforts with campaign cash.
Wall’s campaign paid Normington & Petts $14,000 to conduct a poll that, according to Talking Points Memo, showed Wall trailing Ribble 41 percent to 47 percent.
In the span of a month, Aug. 28 to Sept. 27, the campaign also spent $376,791 on ad buys, trying to keep the Green Bay-area seat in play.
Contact Adshead at kadshead@wisconsinreporter.com.
