Party Committees Raise More Than $1 Billion In 2001-2002

Political committees of the two major parties reported raising more than $1.15 billion and spending $1.13 billion during 2001-2002, according to a summary released by the Federal Election Commission, an increase of 73% over the 1997-98 time period, the most recent campaign with no presidential race on the ballot.

The two parties raised a total of $658.8 million in federally regulated “hard money” where limits on contributions and prohibitions on corporate, union, and other sources apply. Hard money fundraising increased by 33% when compared with 1998.

Nonfederal “soft money” raised by national parties outside the limits and prohibitions of federal law totaled $496 million, a 98% increase over 1998 totals. These funds are prohibited for future elections under the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002.

For the first time in 2002, Democratic committees reported more nonfederal receipts by national committees than federal receipts for national, state, and local committees combined, and both parties raised more soft money in 2002 than they had in 2000 in spite of the open Presidential campaign waged that year.

Party support for Congressional candidates in the form of direct contributions, expenditures made in coordination with candidates, and independent expenditures made by parties without candidates, totaled $22.6 million for Republican committees and $11.1 million for Democratic parties.

The Republican total was dominated by the RNC, which made $14.1 million in coordinated expenditures on behalf of Senate and House candidates in 2002. The Senate and House campaign committees of the two parties, by contrast, spent much less in direct support of their candidates than they had in the mid-1990s, before the extensive use of soft money by these organizations.

Republican national committees transferred $42.3 million in federal funds and $103.3 million in nonfederal funds to their state and local organizations, while Democratic national committees transferred $39 million in federal funds and $119.6 million in nonfederal funds to state and local parties.

These funds are typically used for generic party activity, including advertising that does not specifically advocate the election or defeat of federal candidates, and voter mobilization efforts.