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Third-quarter fundraising figures offered the first glimpse into the financial strength of a number of Members who are squaring off against a colleague as the result of redistricting this cycle.
The new reports filed during the weekend with the Federal Election Commission also showed which lawmakers are already taking sides — at least financially — in the early stages of Member-vs.-Member primaries.
In a marquee Member matchup in Iowa's 3rd district, the difference between Reps. Tom Latham's (R) and Leonard Boswell's (D) war chests was substantial at the end of September. Boswell had $376,000 in cash on hand, while Latham had more than $1.7 million in the bank. Latham also outraised Boswell, $346,000 to $144,000. Latham, who is close to Speaker John Boehner (Ohio), pulled in donations from GOP Reps. Doug Lamborn (Colo.), Bob Latta (Ohio) and Sue Myrick (N.C.). Boswell did not appear to receive any donations from other Members' campaign committees, but he did pick up donations from lawmakers' political action committees, including those of Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.).
"The campaign cycle is far from over. We will have every resource we need to run a successful campaign, as we always do," Boswell's Iowa chief of staff, Grant Woodard, said when asked about the cash disparity.
East of Iowa, in Illinois, where Democrats drew a particularly gerrymandered map that left a number of Republicans out in the cold, two sets of GOP Members are facing each other.
Freshman Rep. Joe Walsh (R) took in $156,000 to fellow freshman Rep. Randy Hultgren's $187,000. But Hultgren had $276,000 in cash on hand to Walsh's $466,000.
Freshman Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R), 33, who appears likely to face 10-term Rep. Don Manzullo (R), 67, in an exurban district southwest of Chicago, raised $212,000 to Manzullo's $320,000. Kinzinger had a bit more in cash on hand, with $567,000 in the bank to Manzullo's $484,000.
In California, where a nonpartisan redistricting commission drew a number of Members together, the marquee race is between 15-term Rep. Howard Berman (D) and eight-term Rep. Brad Sherman (D). Berman pulled in $819,000 in the third quarter and had $2.3 million in cash on hand at the end of September. Sherman raked in just $174,000 but had $3.7 million in the bank. Berman received donations from a handful of other Members, including California Democratic Reps. Henry Waxman and Jackie Speier.
Sherman, for his part, did not appear to receive any donations from other Members' campaign committees.
But beyond the intrigue of the Berman-Sherman race, there are other likely Member-vs.-Member contests brewing in the Golden State.
In the matchup between Republican Reps. Gary Miller and Ed Royce, the latter bested the former by more than $300,000. Royce pulled in $358,000 in the quarter and had more than $3 million in cash on hand, while Miller raised $58,000 and had just over $1 million in the bank.
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