Subscribe free to our daily email newsletterDistrict 17 Primary Features Big Fundraising
Jan 22, 2010 12:44 - 2 Comments
As >Rockville Central readers know, Adam Pagnucco of Maryland Politics Watch, the most important political blog in Maryland, declared Rockville to be “ground zero” for state-level politics in the 2010 election cycle, as former delegate Cheryl Kagan announced a challenge to sitting state senator Jennie Forehand in District 17. Senator Forehand also has announced her intention to run for re-election. Later, Adam and his partner in crime Marc Korman have declared this race as therace to watch for 2010, in a comprehensive roundup of all the key primary races. “Expect this to be an expensive, noisy, and exciting race,” says Korman.
Speaking of “expensive,” the state elections commission has posted the most recent fundraising numbers for Kagan and Forehand. MPW has a comprehensive review here. Kagan outpaced Forehand in terms of money raised and has slightly more cash on hand. But, of more interest to me is the amount of money already at play in this race. The two candidates have a total cash on hand balance of $183,596.82.
That’s a lot of dough for a state level race in January!
I am not someone who thinks that money is evil and has no place in politics. On the contrary, I think fundraising results can be a good proxy for understanding where public sentiment is (not always, but sometimes), and certainly where the energy is. I see the money issue as a reflection that Adam and Marc are right: This is the race to watch.
Follow on Twitter
Brad, thanks for pointing out some very important facts about the District 17 State Senate race. There are also very important other facts about this campaign. “Maryland Political Watch” wrote, which was also verified by the Maryland Board of Elections, that Cheryl Kagan outpaced Jennie Forehand by more than three-to-one, over the last two years, in fund-raising.Cheryl has raised this proportion and amount of funds, even with setting her own campaign limits at 50% of the State’s allowable maximums for contributions. As an example, according to “Maryland Political Watch,” of Cheryl staying within her own self-imposed limitations on fund-raising, “Cheryl even turned back $1,000 of $4,000 given to her by the Montgomery County Career Fire Fighters PAC because it exceeded her self-imposed limitation of half the legal limit for contributions, which is $6,000 in the case of PACs.”For a challenger to raise this proportion of funds, in comparison to an incumbent of the same party, is extremely unusual. It reflects the broad-base of Cheryl’s support and the strength of her campaign. I think you are right, Brad, fund-raising can be a very strong indicator of where the public sentiment is — it is with Cheryl Kagan.
I’d also like to note that the Democratic primary is in September. Having a big war chest in January makes absolute sense.