Edwards touts fundraising numbers

By Michael W. Shapiro

U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards (D-Waco) announced Thursday he raised almost $594,000 in the first three months of the year, leaving him with more than $1.7 million in the bank to spend in his re-election campaign against Bryan Republican Bill Flores. An Edwards news release calls the $1,983,350 the congressman has raised this election cycle a personal record.

Flores' report reflects the fact that the three-month period ended two weeks before the end of his tough and lengthy primary battle with small businessman Rob Curnock. Flores reported about $29,000 in contributions and ended the month of March with a little more than $60,000 on hand. Flores, who was an oil and gas executive before retiring to Bryan, has already kicked $493,000 into the race in the form of loans and contributions, and the Washington, D.C.-based National Republican Congressional Committee indicated Thursday that Flores' had moved a step closer to receiving the organization's support.

As has quickly become custom, the campaigns tussled over press releases on the fundraising reports, trading barbs throughout the day Thursday.

Edwards campaign manager Alex Youn started things off referring to the "bitter and divisive primary race," between Flores and Curnock and then delivering this line about Flores who worked in Houston before retiring to the district: "As Mr. Flores continues to get acquainted with our district, Congressman Edwards will continue his work to put the needs of our district first."

Flores campaign manager Matt Mackowiak said Edwards has a record of "consistently raising taxes, growing government, and loading up trillions of dollars to our national debt," and pointed to the amount of contributions Edwards has received from political action committees (PACs). Edwards has received around $767,000 from PACs, which Mackowiak equated to a philosophy of "leave no lobbyist behind.

Edwards' campaign spokeswoman responded to the response, calling the Flores release an attack on the businesses and industry who through PACs have given Edwards money including "conservative homebuilders, realtors, community bankers, defense firms such as Waco's L-3, the Texas Farm Bureau AGFUND, and other employers in our district."

Edwards took in more from PACs than all but one other member of the Texas delegation, but not surprisingly that member was Ciro Rodriguez, who like Edwards is facing a potentially tough challenge this year. The point being that the number tells you that Edwards is in a race, but it doesn't necessarily tell a whole lot more than that.

To answer in a concrete way whether the contributions Edwards has received from PACs this election cycle makes him beholden to lobbyists — as the Flores campaign asserts — the Trib compared the donations Edwards has received from PACs and from individuals and looked at the ratio of those numbers, as well as the ratios of the rest of the 32-member delegation relying on each member's 1st quarter FEC fundraising report.

Gene Green, Houston: 306.6
Charles A. Gonzalez, San Antonio: 291.2
Michael Burgess, Denton: 258.9
Kevin Brady, The Woodlands: 236.0
Ciro Rodriguez, San Antonio.: 194.4
Ralph Hall, Rockwall: 170.6
Kenny Marchant, Coppell: 164.5
Joe Barton, Ennis: 150.3
Eddie Bernice Johnson, Dallas: 132.5
Sam Johnson, Plano: 107.7
Randy Neugebauer, Lubbock: 106.5
Solomon Ortiz, Corpus Christi: 102.2
Ruben Hinojosa, McAllen: 96.3
Lamar Smith, San Antonio: 95.3
Henry Cuellar, Laredo: 89.4
Silvestre Reyes, El Paso: 82.8
Al Green, Houston: 77.1
Pete Olson, Sugar Land: 74.7
John Culberson, Houston: 72.4
Kay Granger, Fort Worth: 64.3
Chet Edwards, Waco: 63.0
Sheila Jackson Lee, Houston: 60.0
Lloyd Doggett, Austin: 57.5
Michael Conaway, Midland: 55.6
Pete Sessions, Dallas: 48.4
Mike McCaul, Austin: 47.9
John Carter, Round Rock: 47.4
Mac Thornberry, Amarillo: 45.5
Jeb Hensarling, Dallas: 44.1
Ted Poe, Humble: 41.7
Louie Gohmert, Tyler: 25.8
Ron Paul, Lake Jackson: 3.5

Average ratio: 106.7

A number larger than 100 indicates that a member received more money from PACs than individuals (the bigger the number, the more a candidate's campaign coffers tilts toward PAC dollars over individual donations).

A number below 100 means a member took in more contributions from individuals than they did from PACs. (Ron Paul, who takes almost no money from PACs out of principle is a bit of an outlier.)

So how does Edwards stack up (or rather, how does the Flores camp's claim hold up)? Edwards' ratio indicates his donations are more tilted toward individual contributions than most of his Lone Star state colleagues. His ratio is also well below the average ratio of the delegation, 106.7.

      Email    Print