Primary Elections Losing us Money and Votes

Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick has been representing the 8^th District of Pennsylvania for a combined total of eight years. And during this time, Fitzpatrick has raised more than double the money of the average member of Congress as well as more than double the money of his opponent, Kevin Strouse. During this election, the Fitzpatrick campaign has raised about $2,482,114 while the Strouse campaign has only raised $1,016,010. But these numbers aren’t even the most astonishing. The difference in the campaigns’ finances lies within how much cash they have on hand. For this number, the difference is staggering as Fitzpatrick has $1,906,830 while Strouse only has about $268,721 (Open Secrets). This number may not be just because Fitzpatrick raised more money or that the Strouse campaign is a little more forgiving with theirs, but an explanation for this might be found within the close race that Strouse had to face in the primary. By having no opponent in the primary, Fitzpatrick comes into this race with an advantage financially and image wise.

During the Primary election between Shaughnessy Naughton and Kevin Strouse, the two Democratic candidates raised a combined total of $418,656 (BallotPedia). The money that they raised was all spent towards attack ads: mailers, e-mail blasts, YouTube videos, and even television commercials. Naughton used many personal attack strategies in order to try and beat Strouse (Bohen). However, since she did not come out victorious, the only thing that her attack ads really did was hinder Strouse for the midterm election. After the primary, Strouse was not only set back in the eye of the public, but he was also set back financially. Since the primary, Strouse has only raised $452,435 which does not even near the amount of money that Fitzpatrick raised overall (BallotPedia).

While the Democrats spent all of their time and money trying to beat each other up during the primary, the Republicans sat on their cash, watched the fight, and geared up for this mid-term election. Meanwhile, the Democrats continued to beat each other up and damage the elected nominee’s image. However, this image problem now does not just effect Strouse’s reputation, but it ends up affecting his bank account as well. By having such a strong hatred towards Strouse during the primary election, many of Naughton’s supporters are now backing Fitzpatrick both financially and with their vote (PoliticsPA).

 The issue of having a strong opponent is bigger than the competition, and even bigger than the money. The negative image that is created during the primary has financial implications and can definitely cost votes. It makes us think if having a primary is really the best way possible to choose a candidate. With the 8^th Congressional District of Pennsylvania, it seems as if the primary may damage the party’s candidate more than help the party as a whole.

Bohen, Jeff. "The Political TV Ad Buy that Wasn't?" LevittownNow.com. Accessed October 2, 2014. http://levittownnow.com/2014/05/18/political-ad-buy-wasnt/.

"Congressional Elections: Pennsylvania District 08 Race: 2014 Cycle OpenSecrets." Accessed October 1, 2014. https://www.opensecrets.org/races/summary.php?cycle=2014&id=PA08.

Dooling, Doug. "PA-8: Bucks County Officials Back Naughton." PoliticsPA. Accessed October 1, 2014. http://www.politicspa.com/pa-8-bucks-county-officials-back-naughton/53519/.

BallotPedia. "Pennsylvania's 8th Congressional District elections, 2014." Accessed October 1, 2014. ballotpedia.org/Pennsylvania's_8th_Congressional_District_elections,_2014.