COLLEGE PARK – With more than 100 times as much money as hisRepublican opponent, 5th District Rep. Steny H. Hoyer has spent thisspring and summer donating money and campaigning for other Democratsaround the country.
From April to June, the Hoyer campaign gave $14,475 to othercandidates and $16,120 to organizations and political action committees,according to his most recent filing with the Federal Election Commission.
Campaign officials said Hoyer has raised and donated more than$750,000 to Democratic congressional candidates this election cycle,through his campaign and his affiliated political action committee,AmeriPAC, which is funding both incumbents and challengers in contestedelections.
“We’re trying to take back the House,” said Hoyer spokeswoman Stacey Farnen.
Hoyer recently traveled to Florida, Iowa, Louisiana and Texas to raise money for five candidates and will continue to travel this fall, althoughas of Aug. 20 he did not have specific plans, Farnen said.
While the Hoyer campaign had $570,503 in cash on June 30, his only challenger, Republican Joseph T. Crawford, said he had less than $5,000.
But Crawford is undaunted. For the past year, Crawford has attendedevery event he has been invited to, large or small, in an effort to makesure the party faithful know him, he said.
Crawford said he is running to expose Hoyer’s liberal voting record so people can see “he’s worse than (House Minority Leader) Dick Gephardt.”
“In this district, the general voter tends to believe Steny Hoyer is a moderate,” Crawford said. “I’m striving hard to be the voice of theaverage voter.”
In the meantime, Crawford was hoping to raise money at the 5thDistrict Crab and Shrimp Feast, a GOP fund raiser on Aug. 11, but by Aug.19 he could not say how much had been raised at that event.
“I have not gotten a check yet,” he said Monday.
Two other 5th District hopefuls, Green Party candidate Bob Auerbachand independent Jozef S. Przygrodzki, failed to obtain enough signaturesto qualify for the general election and will not be on the ballot,according to the State Board of Elections.
But Auerbach is still running.
He said he had spent $125 of his own money on the filing fee andopening a campaign account. He was running a strictly grass-rootscampaign and was not seeking donations from corporations or PACs, hesaid.
PAC contributions make up 70.6 percent of Hoyer’s receipts, accordingto FEC filings.
About two thirds of the PACs contributing to Hoyer’s campaign were business PACs, according to information from the Center for ResponsivePolitics.