Iowa’s 1st District is a prime target for party spending

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By Ed Tibbetts | Sunday, October 22, 2006 12:59 AM CDT | () comments

Iowa’s 1st District congressional race ranked ninth in the country for independent expenditures on U.S. House races, according to a report last week by the Federal Election Commission.

Independent expenditures are outlays by organizations other than candidates running for office.

The major political parties are the biggest spenders in the district, just as they are nationwide. As of Wednesday, party spending on the race had topped $2.5 million, according to the FEC. And all of that has occurred since the beginning of September, with most of the money going toward television ads.

To put it into perspective, Democrat Bruce Braley and Republican Mike Whalen, the major party candidates for the 1st District seat, have spent $2.4 million between them since January 2005.

The National Republican Congressional Committee led the way with almost $1.6 million in spending, putting the district sixth on its list of House spending targets, according to an analysis by Congressional Quarterly.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee had spent about $1 million on the race.

Two independents, James Hill of Eldridge, and Albert Schoeman of Waterloo, also are on the ballot.

Another large outside expenditure in the race came from a group called Americans for Honesty on Issues, which reported spending $159,571 on a television ad criticizing Braley on the Iraq War.

The organization reported one donation, $2 million from Bob Perry of Houston, a homebuilder and generous contributor to Republican causes.

Perry is perhaps best known for funding the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a group that attacked John Kerry’s Vietnam War record during the 2004 presidential campaign.

The Service Employees International Union also spent $27,000 on television ads to help Braley.

Two groups on opposite side of the abortion issue have weighed in, too.

NARAL Pro Choice America had spent about $6,200, as of last Wednesday, according to the FEC, while the National Right to Life Political Action Committee spent about $3,600.

The National Rifle Association also got into the race toward the end of the week, spending about $6,200 to assist Whalen.

Nationwide, independent expenditures on congressional races topped $117 million, a 27 percent increase over the same period during the 2003-04 election cycle.

Political parties spent the most, with nearly $97 million in outlays.

The Republican Party has outspent the Democratic Party thus far on House races, $47 million to $21 million, according to the FEC.

In Senate races, Democrats were spending more, $15 million to $9 million.

The election is Nov. 7.

Ed Tibbetts can be contacted at (563) 383-2327 or etibbetts@qctimes.com.