They might be rookies, but freshman Republicans are becoming Washington fundraising pros.
In September and October, the House freshmen are hosting at least 100 fundraisers at Washington power-broker haunts like Charlie Palmer Steak and the Capitol Hill Club, a private GOP hangout for which the price of admission can run between a few hundred and a few thousand dollars, according to recent fundraising lists obtained by POLITICO.
Continue ReadingThe events usually attract a lobbyist crowd and sometimes include high-profile guests, like Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks?s $500-per-plate dinner ? $1,500 if you?re a political action committee ? at the Capitol Hill Club on Oct. 12 that will feature House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and South Carolina Rep. Mick Mulvaney?s dinner Tuesday at Acqua Al 2, a high-end Italian restaurant on Capitol Hill, with guest Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), for which tickets run from $1,000 for individuals to $1,500 for PACs.
Engaging K Street in the dollar dash might cut against the new class?s reformist line, but the freshmen say it?s necessary if they want to return to Washington as sophomores.
?It?s about getting a message out,? said Indiana Rep. Marlin Stutzman. ?To get a message out, it takes money.?
The perception that they?ve gone Washington isn?t an issue, he added.
?I?m not that worried about it. You have a very small group of people who will make an issue out of it, and usually, they disagree with you on the politics anyway,? he said.
Filling their campaign coffers this cycle could prove more difficult than when they were unknowns. Energy is shifting toward the Senate and White House races that Republicans feel they have a shot at winning, according to Republican strategists like Rob Collins.
?It?s not been nearly [as] easy as we were told it would be,? said Mulvaney. ?Everyone tells you when you become a member of Congress that it will be easy to raise a quarter million dollars in the first week, and that?s not accurate,? said Mulvaney, who defeated Democrat John Spratt last year. ?It?s been extraordinarily difficult to raise money in Washington. I think [because] there?s 87 freshmen, there?s a lot of folks chasing those dollars and the economy is not where any of us would like it to be, so that has an impact.?
Attitudes among the freshmen about fundraising generally fall into two camps: those who enjoy and excel at it and those who profess to hate the Washington money game but consider it a necessary, if distasteful, part of the job.
When asked if he enjoys fundraising, Brooks answered without hesitation: ?Absolutely not. It is the most dissatisfactory part of the job.?
Brooks is hosting several Capitol Hill Club fundraisers this fall with the price tag running from $500 for individuals to $2,000 for PACs.
?The biggest challenge to meet is raising money for the [National Republican Congressional Committee]. It?s the hardest to do; it?s the least pleasing to do,? Brooks said. ?Then we raise money for the Young Guns program. For instance, my dues for NRCC is $70,000; for the Young Guns program, it?s $6,000 to $12,000. Then I have fundraising obligations for my own campaign.?
Rep. Trey Gowdy, who won his first elected office in South Carolina?s 4th Congressional District last November after knocking off Republican incumbent Bob Inglis in the primary, also falls squarely into the latter camp. ?I am bad at it, and I don?t enjoy it ? that?s not a good combination,? Gowdy said.
That isn?t stopping him from trying. Gowdy was slated to hold back-to-back breakfast and lunch fundraisers Sept. 21, starting with an energy breakfast at the Capitol Hill Club followed by a noon event at a Capitol Hill townhouse. He?s asking $2,000 for PACs and $1,000 for individuals to co-host and $1,000 for PACs and $500 for individuals to attend. He has at least three other fundraisers planned for the coming weeks.
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