On Monday, Daily Kos Elections unveiled our fourth quarter House fundraising chart. Now we take a look at the challengers who managed to outraise the incumbents they're attempting to unseat. Please note that the figures in the chart below do not reflect any personal funds any of these candidates may have invested in their campaigns.
Ten Democratic challengers ran ahead of their Republican foes, while six Democrats were on the wrong side of that line this quarter. The other incumbents on this list were outraised by members of the same party challenging them in primaries (except lucky John Tierney, who appears in both categories).
A few challengers entered the race just in the past quarter and made notable fundraising debuts. On the Democratic side, Amanda Renteria in California's Central Valley and Rocky Lara in southern New Mexico hit the ground running. For the GOP, Lee Zeldin on Long Island and Richard Tisei in northeastern Massachusetts got a strong start.
A few members of the House are in danger of seeing their fundraising deficits become the rule rather than an exception. Among Republicans, a few members were outraised for at least the second quarter in a row by Democratic challengers. While Iowa Rep. Steve King has the benefit of running in a red district (Romney won his seat 53-45), others aren't so lucky. Mike Coffman, Steve Southerland and Chris Gibson all represent more competitive turf and will face challengers with plenty of cash.
For Democrats, Ron Barber and Rick Nolan look like they'll need to watch their backs in seats that were closely contested in the presidential race. Democratic Rep. Tim Bishop was outraised in the third quarter too, but by wealthy lawyer George Demos rather than Zeldin (Demos's money came entirely from his pocket last time). Still, no matter who Bishop faces, it looks like he'll have another serious race in a seat that was almost evenly divided between Obama and Romney.
Head over the fold for a look at the members who will be fighting for their careers in the primaries, as well as the few challengers with more total cash in the bank than the incumbents they're facing.
A few members of the House will need to worry about renomination before they can concentrate on the general. It looks like scandal-tarred GOP Rep. Scott DesJarlais can start updating his resume: He was slaughtered eight-to-one in the fundraising department by his primary foe, Tennessee state Sen. Jim Tracy. Accidental Republican Rep. Kerry Bentivolio also badly trailed his primary opponent yet again, foreclosure kingpin David Trott. DesJarlais's district went for Romney by a hefty 65-33. Bentivolio's suburban Detroit seat is more competitive but still quite red, going for Romney 52-47.
Texas Rep. Ralph Hall also looks like he has a fight on his hands. The 90-year-old Hall only won 57 percent in his 2012 primary against two weak opponents, and it looks like he was caught off guard by wealthy former U.S. Attorney John Ratcliffe. Walter Jones also has a fundraising deficit, though it may be more due to laziness than his opponent's strength. Both of these seats are safely Republican.
On the Democratic side, as we noted above, John Tierney has the dubious honor of being outraised in both the primary and the general election. Mike Honda once again was outpaced by Ro Khanna in a fight that may continue to November due to California's top-two primary law. Georgia Rep. Hank Johnson looks like he may have to step it up against DeKalb County Sheriff Tom Brown, though Brown's $108,000 is not particularly eyebrow-raising. Both Honda and Johnson's seats will remain blue in November in any case, while Tierney's will be more competitive.
A few unlucky representatives also found themselves at a cash-on-hand disadvantage. Here's a look at the challengers with more money in their campaign coffers:
Five Republicans have less money available than their Democratic opponents, while four Democrats are at a financial disadvantage. A few new arrivals make the list. Democratic Rep. John Garamendi outraised his likely GOP opponent Assemblymember Dan Logue but didn't start the cycle with much cash. Fellow Democrat Brad Schneider doesn't lack cash, but has slightly less than Bob Dold, whom he unseated in 2012. Tim Bishop also has more money than Lee Zeldin, but faces a big deficit against wealthy self-funder George Demos. Luckily for Bishop, Zeldin and Demos will be spending their funds on each other instead of him until the
June 24 primary.
