Lawmakers Get Most Funding From Outside Districts

'Nonresident contributors donate for expressive purposes,' study shows
By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 30, 2008 8:53 AM CDT
Lawmakers Get Most Funding From Outside Districts
Celebs are often a draw for donors on the coasts, where fundraisers are more like social events (bring your checkbook).   (AP Photo)

Candidates running for Congress are increasingly using affluent ZIP codes outside their own districts as "political ATM machines" to fund their campaigns, a new study finds. In the majority of House races in 2004, almost three-quarters of contributions came from donors outside a lawmaker's district—often from Hollywood, Manhattan's Upper East Side, and other white, moneyed areas. Today's donors are “urban, highly educated, and employed in elite occupations," reports Miller-McCune magazine.

The new data comes as campaign costs are soaring: The cost of the average US House bid has nearly doubled since the mid-1990s. “I’m not quite sure it’s sunk in how extensive these flows are and where they come from,” one of the study’s authors tells Miller-McCune. “I think people in favor of an elitist interpretation of American political power would be very pleased with these results.” (More campaign finance stories.)

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