At least two Democrats trying to unseat
Bill McCamley, who is trying to unseat U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., has received 17 contributions totaling $5,395 through ActBlue, an online contribution Web site for Democratic candidates. Martin Heinrich, who wants the seat held by Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., has received 31 contributions totaling $4,450.
The site is an example of how Democrats have effectively used the Internet to organize in ways the GOP has missed. Pearce has a campaign Web site up, but people can’t contribute to through it. They have to print out a form and mail it in.
McCamley and Heinrich, on the other hand, can accept contributions online. Other sites, such as New Mexico FBIHOP, also have links to donate to Democratic candidates including McCamley and Heinrich.
Al Kissling, the other Democrat vying for the right to take on Pearce, has received five contributions totaling $105 through ActBlue.
We’re talking about relatively small amounts of money, but we’re still about 17 months away from the election, and the fundraising totals can tell us something about the campaigns, especially since Heinrich and McCamley didn’t get into the races until the second fundraising quarter of 2007 and haven’t yet had to file finance reports.
It’s likely that only a small percentage of their total fundraising will come through online contributions. Heinrich said recently that he has contributions totaling more than $50,000, and, based on his online fundraising total, it’s likely that McCamley does, too.
It’s expected that, if he gets past the primary, Heinrich will be one of the most well-funded Democrats seeking a GOP House seat in 2008, because the race is one that’s always in play. It is automatic that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the fundraising arm of House Democrats, will help the candidate that emerges from that primary, if there is one.
McCamley and other candidates challenging Pearce, on the other hand, face an uphill battle just to get the attention of the DCCC. If McCamley raises a decent amount of money by July – say $100,000 or $200,000 – he should have the attention of Democrats in
Kissling, on the other hand, filed a first-quarter finance report that indicated his campaign still has debt from 2006. If ActBlue is any indication, McCamley is raising money much faster than Kissling.
We’ll know more in mid-July, when finance reports for the second quarter are due.
For comparison on the fundraising totals, Kissling raised $26,771 through ActBlue for his unsuccessful attempt to unseat Pearce last year. That came from 309 donors. Patricia Madrid, who was unsuccessful in her attempt to unseat
In total, Kissling raised about $186,000.
The other members of the state’s delegation who are up for re-election next year are Democratic Rep. Tom Udall and GOP Sen. Pete Domenici. Neither has a campaign Web site up yet. Udall is registered on ActBlue, but has not yet received any contributions through the site.
One of two lesser-known Domenici challengers, Jim Hannan, has registered on ActBlue, but hasn’t yet received a contribution through the site.