Congressmen forking over money for 2nd Congressional District race

It helps to have friends in high places.

At least 75 members of the U.S. Congress have dipped into their own campaign funds to donate to their party’s candidate in Maine’s hard-fought 2nd Congressional District.

Republican and Democratic incumbents, most of them in safe districts with no serious challenger, collectively tossed $114,000 into the coffers of U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin, a Republican freshman, and the woman who aims to unseat him Tuesday, Democrat Emily Cain.

It’s not a lot compared to the $6.5 million the two candidates have raised, let alone the more than $8 million also dumped into the race by party-affiliated organizations and outside political action committees.

But the fact that so many incumbents forked over their own campaign cash to Poliquin or Cain shows how much value members of Congress put on gaining allies in the House.

Poliquin attracted funds from 42 Republican members of the House while Cain got donations from 33 of them, all Democrats.

Some were so eager to help that they didn’t even wait to get elected themselves. In addition to the incumbents who chipped in, Cain received donations from four of her fellow contenders for House seats and Poliquin also picked up a donor from among the GOP’s cadre of congressional hopefuls.

Because some of Cain’s backers sent her bigger checks, she pulled in slightly more money from members of Congress than Poliquin, bolstered in large part by two big givers: Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer.

Both Pelosi and Hoyer forked over $6,000 apiece to Cain since early 2015. Cain lost to Poliquin two years ago and almost immediately began running for the job again.

Poliquin’s biggest congressional donors were Tom Emmer of Minnesota and Matt Salmon of Arizona, each of whom handed over $4,000.

This information was compiled from mandatory campaign finance reports filed by Cain and Poliquin since the start of 2015 with the Federal Election Commission.

Poliquin has raised $3.2 million through Nov. 2, slightly less than half of it from individuals, while Cain has pulled in $3.1 million, more than three-quarters of it from individuals.

Democrats hope to make inroads into the GOP-controlled House, but few expect them to have much chance of winning a majority unless Donald Trump’s presidential bid takes a huge hit at the polls, an unlikely outcome. They have a better shot of taking control of the U.S. Senate, where the Republican majority is thinner.

Donors to Rep. Bruce Poliquin

U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham, R-Louisiana – $2,500
U.S. Rep. Brian Babin, R-Texas – $1,000
U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas – $500
U.S. Rep. Larry Bucshon, R-Indiana – $500
U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Georgia – $1,000
U.S. Rep. John Carter, R-Texas – $2,700
U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio – $1,000
U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Florida – $2,000
U.S. Rep. Renee Ellmers, R-North Carolina – $500
U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minnesota – $4,000
U.S. Rep. Bill Flores, R-Texas – $1,000
U.S. Rep. Trent Franks, R-Arizona – $1,000
U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas – $2,000
U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-South Carolina – $1,000
U.S. Rep. Garret Graves, R-Louisiana – $2,000
U.S. Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Kentucky – $1,000
U.S. Rep. Andy Harris, R-Maryland – $1,500
U.S. Rep. Jody Hice, R-Georgia – $500
U.S. Rep. French Hill, R-Arkansas – $1,667
U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson, R-North Carolina – $1,000
U.S. Rep. Andy Hultgren, R-Illinois – $2,000
U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio – $1,000
U.S. Rep. Sam Johnson, R-Texas – $1,000
U.S. Rep. John Kline, R-Minnesota – $1,000
U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-North Carolina – $215
U.S. Rep. Luke Messer, R-Indiana – $1,000
U.S. Rep. Mick Mulveney, R-South Carolina – $2,000
U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pennsylvania – $2,000
U.S. Rep. Pete Olson, R-Texas – $500
U.S. Rep. Gary Palmer, R- Alabama – $1,000
U.S. Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas – $2,000
U.S. Rep. Scott Rigell, R-Virginia – $2,000
U.S. Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tennessee – $1,000
U.S. Rep. Matt Salmon, R-Arizona – $4,000
U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas – $2,000
U.S. Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Nebraska – $1,000
U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, R-Oregon – $2,000
U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield, R-Kentucky – $1,500
U.S. Rep. Roger Williams, R-Texas – $1,000
U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Virginia – $500
U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, R-Arkansas – $1,000
U.S. Rep. Rob Woodall, R-Georgia – $2,000

PLUS:

Candidate John Rutherford, R-Florida – $2,000
Former U.S. Rep. Steve Southerland, R-Florida – $500

Donors to Emily Cain

U.S. Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-California – $2,000
U.S. Rep. Don Beyer, D-Virginia – $1,000
U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Oregon – $1,000
U.S. Rep. Judy Chu, D-California – $1,000
U.S. Rep. David Cicilline, D-Rhode Island – $1,000
U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Massachusetts – $1,000
U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-South Carolina – $3,000
U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tennessee – $1,000
U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colorado – $1,000
U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Connecticut – $3,000
U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Florida – $2,000
U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Michigan – $1,000
U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-California – $2,000
U.S. Rep. Bill Foster, D-Illinois – $1,000
U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Arizona – $1,000
U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-Connecticut – $1,000
U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland – $6,000
U.S. Rep. Ann McLane Kuster, D-New Hampshire – $500
U.S. Rep. John Larson, D-Connecticut – $2,000
U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-California – $3,000
U.S. Rep. Sander Levin, D-Michigan – $2,000
U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-California – $4,000
U.S. Rep. Alan Lowenthal, D-California – $1,000
U.S. Rep. Doris Matsui, D-California – $1,000
U.S. Rep. James McGovern, D-Massachusetts – $1,000
U.S. Rep. Grace Meng, D-New York – $1,000
U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-New York – $1,000
U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-Texas – $2,000
U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-California – $6,000
U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-California – $1,000
U.S. Rep. Mark Takano, D-California – $1,000
U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko, D-New York – $2,000
U.S. Rep. Niki Tsongas, D-Massachusetts – $2,000

PLUS:

Candidate Val Demings, D-Florida – $1,000
Candidate Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Illinois – $1,000
Candidate Donald McEachin, D-Virginia – $1,000
Candidate Jamie Raskin, D-Maryland – $1,000
Former candidate Melissa Gilbert, D-Michigan – $2,000

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Cain, Congress, election 2016, poliquin, politics

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