Here's some really good number-crunching from the Lafayette Jouranl & Courier on how much Indiana's congressional races have contributed to local economies:
Indiana's congressional candidates have spent more than a record $13.4 million for the Nov. 7 elections. And that doesn't count the more than $12 million spent by the national parties and independent groups or the more than $700,000 spent by the four Indiana House members who have separate campaign accounts to further their political ambitions by raising money for other candidates.
The report has a lot of fascinating details, including the biggest donors to the nine Democratic candidates (labor unions, lobbyists, lawyers and Democratic congressmen from from other states) and the nine Republican ones (GOP congressmen from other states, health professionals, retirees and those in real estate. Most self-funding by a candidate: Fort Wayne City Councilman Tom Hayhurst has lent his campaign $200,000 in his attempt to unseat Rep. Mark Souder.
Comments
I'd like to see a similar report for state races. I was surprised to see the amount of cash dumped into Republican candidates from an organization called "All Children Matter," an out of state pro-voucher PAC largely funded by Dick DeVos's Amway fortune. They contributed $53,000 to Tom Dermody in northern Indiana. He knocked off Mary Kay Budak in a primary challenge.
Maybe when Tom runs for Mayor he'll get enough donations to actually be paid back that loan. The again, what's $200K when you're sitting on $15 million?