Money Money Money

Nick J. Rahall II enters the 2010 election with a major advantage in campaign funds and fundraising as he has raised over fifteen times the amount of money in his campaign than his competitors combined in the 3rd District of West Virginia.

Rahall raised over fifteen times the amount of money than his competitors with a total of $383,242 according to the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Forty one percent of that money came from Itemized Individual contributions and over half came from Other Committee contributions such as Engineers Political Education Committee and the Ocean Champions Political Action Committee. Rahall spent $349,656 on his campaign and ended the year with $1,392,501 cash on hand.

The closest competitor to Rahall was Republican Conrad Lucas. Lucas was able to raise $16,555 in campaign funding which was. He spent $4,032 on his campaign and ended the year with $12,523 cash on hand. Rahall raised over twenty times the amount of campaign funding than Lucas.

After Lucas the next closest competitor in terms of fundraising is Republican Lee Allen Bias. Bias raised $16,417 in his campaign in 2009. He spent $5,331 on his campaign and ended the year with $11,085 cash on hand. One major set back to Bias’s campaign is that he ended the year $11,343 in debt, so he ended up spending $258 more than what he ended the year with. Rahall raised over twenty times more money than Bias did in 2009.

The final two competitors in the third district of West Virginia running against Rahall are Republicans Gary Gearheart and Elliot Edward Maynard. Both candidates did not raise any money for their campaigns in 2009, but are still listed in the FEC as competitors.

Looking at the numbers, Rahall raised $383,242 on his campaign and all of his other competitors raised a total of $32,972. That’s over fifteen times the amount Rahall raised. Rahall had a total of $1,392,501 cash on hand and the total amount his competitors is a mere $24,328 giving Rahall approximately $1,368,893 more than his competitors combined at the end of 2009. In the 2008 Senate race Rahall raised $592,271 and his only competitor Gary Gearheart raised no funds in his campaign. What does this funding mean for his election?

“It makes a lot of difference in what he can buy,” Marshall University Political Science Professor George Davis said, “He can put yard signs in every yard in West Virginia with that kind of money. Where it really makes a difference is lets say your someone who is running against Rahall and you go to me as a contributor and I know that Rahall has all this money and you don’t. You got $5,000 in the bank. Even as someone who might contribute to you, the reaction is going to be wait a minute you don’t have a shot.”

Money makes all the difference in an election. The movie Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore is similar to what Rahall’s competitors are facing in the upcoming election. In the movie grassroots candidate Jeff Smith is running for the open seat in U.S. Congress in St. Louis. The main nominee in this election is Democrat Russ Carnahan. Carnahan was not an incumbent like Rahall, however his parents were well known figures in politics giving the Carnahan name an edge. The Rahall name is also well known in the 3rd District. Smith had to begin his campaign from the ground up and that meant going door to door in the streets of St. Louis trying to gain support. Rahall’s competitors will have to do the same if they wish to receive any support in West Virginia’s 3rd District because of the influences that Rahall has in this area.

Rahall is Chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources. With this status Rahall has been able to bring money to West Virginia to preserve some of its natural resources. The southern coalfields make up a huge chunk of West Virginia’s 3rd District and Rahall has done a lot of work for mine safety in these areas. After the Saco mine accident in 2006, Rahall was able to bring in approximately $4,000,000 to West Virginia coal companies for mine safety.

It is a busy time of year for candidates in the election period. Even more so for the candidates who are looking to get re-elected. Rahall has to juggle serving in U.S. Congress, checking with his constituents and this year trying to establish a campaign race to keep his time in office alive. Reaching Rahall was a challenge. Emails and phone calls later no one was able to contact me on the current stats of Rahall’s campaign. The Huntington and Beckley offices said that someone in a different office had to answer any questions about campaigning. No one in these offices could comment on his campaign. No word yet on how much funding Rahall has received since Dec. 1, 2009, but whenever the office that deals with campaigning has time to respond, these numbers will be released.