Politics on the Hudson

June 9, 2008

By Brian Tumulty

The three major national committees of the Republican Party raised $13 million more than their three counterparts run by the Democrats during the first 16 months of this election cycle, the Federal Election Commission reported today.

The reporting period covers Jan. 1 of last year through April 30 of this year.

The $260.4 million raised by the Republican National Committee (RNC), the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) and the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) represented n 11 percent decline from the congressional mid-term elections of 2006 and a drop of 19 percent from the last presidential election in 2004.

The $247 million raised by the Democratic National Committee (DNC), the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC)  was an increase of 24 percent from the same period in 2006 and 45 percent than during the first 16 months of the 2004 election cycle.

According to the FEC, “Political Action Committees (PACs) and other committees contributed $30.2 million to Republican party committees and $49.4 million to Democratic party committees in 2007-2008.  Much of this total comes from House Democrats who contributed $22.5 million from their campaign accounts to the DCCC.  House Republicans contributed $11.6 million to the NRCC.’‘