Candidates Taking the Passenger Seat as Money Drives the Campaign

I would be lying if I said that campaigns did not involve a lot of money. Congressional candidates from all over the country are running for reelection, which hints at the idea that many of them will be raising excessive amounts of money. Whether it is from donations from constituents or from organizations within the district, somehow all of these congressmen make a lot of cash.

While looking through different candidates, I noticed that a significant amount of incumbents and their competitors are both spending and donating significantly different amounts of money. Take the Eliot Engel campaign in New York district 16 for example; Engel is running unopposed and has raised approximately $923,965 and has spent more than half of it on his campaign already(Opensecrets). Another campaign in comparison is has had quite the opposite. Chris Gibson, the incumbent candidate from New York district 19 and his competitor and Sean Eldridge are raising very large sums of money for their campaigns. Gibson alone has raised more than two million dollars on his campaign while Eldridge has raised more than three thousand dollars for his campaign.

In a recent article about the race between Chris Gibson and Sean Eldridge, it noted that Eldridge was losing to Gibson by at least twenty-four points, yet Eldridge has raised much more money than Gibson has(Brennan). In the past campaign money was used for purchasing buttons, and posters and other unnecessary paraphernalia; however as time has progressed and technology has gotten more advanced and media has become more prevalent, there has been less of a need for this unnecessary paraphernalia and more emphasis on things like television advertisements.

When looking deeper into where the money from each campaign is coming from, there are significant differences between the two candidates. While Gibson has only spent approximately $365,586 on his campaign, most of his donors are from big businesses such as General Electric and Goldman Sachs(Opensecrets). In comparison, most of the money that is currently financing Sean Eldridge’s campaign is coming out of pocket, due to Eldridge turning down donations from corporate political action committees. In a way this seems like it could have a significant impact on the outcome of the race between Eldridge and Gibson. While Eldridge does have a larger sum of money raised for his campaign its not nearly as endorsed in comparison to Gibson. With endorsements, Gibson seems like the more likely candidate to win the election. Similarly, the incumbent candidate in New York district one is in the same situation. Most of Timothy Bishop’s endorsements come from PAC contributions and big companies like Estee Lauder where in comparison the competitor Lee Zeldin seems to be receiving money from smaller companies. In all, it almost seems as though what actually matters while campaigning is where the money is coming from rather than how much money is being spent.

Brennan, Patrick. "Sean Eldridge Is Losing to Chris Gibson in N.Y. By 24 Points." National Review Online. N.p., 12 Sept. 2014. Web. 03 Oct. 2014

Johnson, Chris. "Eldridge Self-funds Congressional Campaign with Nearly $1 Million." Washington

Blade: Gay News, Politics, LGBT Rights. 30 Apr. 2014. Web. 02 Oct. 2014.

"Rep. Chris Gibson." Opensecrets RSS. Web. 03 Oct. 2014.

"Rep. Timothy H. Bishop." Opensecrets RSS. Web. 03 Oct. 2014.

"The Voter's Self Defense System." Project Vote Smart. Web. 03 Oct. 2014.