Raising the Stakes

Raising the Stakes

Diving into the campaign finance reports: a million-dollar congressional race, a scrappy showing by overmatched Democrats, and the weird world of PACs.

by jesse fox mayshark • october 29, 2018

Money in politics is like the weather – everybody talks about it, and our tools for measuring and predicting its effects have gotten better with time. But there are still gaps in our understanding.The incumbents' advantage: starting the race with a war chest.
Although its influence can vary, if money didn't make a difference in politics, people wouldn't invest so much of it. 
To take our most prominent local example, Tim Burchett had already raised nearly $1 million in his congressional bid through mid-July, when he was still in a contentious Republican primary. His opponent, Democrat Renee Hoyos, had raised just over $300,000 thro...