COLLEGE PARK – After a late start in the race, Democrat Kostas Alexakis has raised a relatively healthy $53,250 for his bid to unseat 1st District Rep. Wayne Gilchrest.
But Gilchrest, stung by two consecutive high-stakes primary challenges, has raised more than ever before in his political career. The seven-term incumbent, who sticks by his earlier pledge to not accept political action committee money, still managed to raise $420,843 as of June 30, according to the latest filing with the Federal Election Commission.
By comparison, Gilchrest had raised $205,475 at the same time in his campaign two years ago, after surviving a $556,798 primary challenge by conservative Republican Dave Fischer.
Gilchrest said that race was a wake-up call.
“I, for most of my years in Congress, have never paid much attention to fund raising because it takes a lot of time to do that,” the Kennedyville Republican said. “After some close races where we were outspent 3-to-1, I decided we needed to be organized for opponents with big pockets.”
Fischer, who started his 2002 challenge with $250,000 of his own money to the $80,000 Gilchrest had in the bank at the time, said Gilchrest has a right to be concerned. He said that redistricting before the last election “took a somewhat Republican-leaning district into a conservative Republican district.”
“I imagine he understands he needs to raise significantly higher campaign dollars than what he had when he ran against me,” Fischer said.
In this year’s primary, Gilchrest took in $350,000, more than double the $140,000 raised by state Sen. Richard Colburn, R-Dorchester.
Alexakis finished second in the Democratic primary to Ann Tamlyn, who ran unsuccessfully against Gilchrest in 2002 in a campaign that spent almost no money. But Tamlyn was forced to drop out of this year’s race due to illness, and Alexakis stepped in.
He downplayed the importance of money in his own campaign. But Alexakis said Gilchrest needs money to counter reports that question the validity of Chesapeake Bay rehabilitation efforts and results, a centerpiece of Gilchrest’s tenure.
Gilchrest said his fund-raising strategy has not changed so much as it has been broadened to more households. The mailing lists have grown, which has resulted in more individual contributions and more opportunities to ask people to host fund-raisers in their homes.
“Our standard line is, ‘Give your money to your children and to the grandparents, and if there is any left over we could use a couple of bucks,'” Gilchrest said.
He also said people are giving more, as world and national tensions have increased.
Even before he started raising money, Gilchrest was ahead because he is an incumbent, said Barry Rascovar, a columnist for the Gazette newspapers. He said incumbency puts Gilchrest at a “considerable advantage in soliciting funds from organizations seeking to remain on his good side when it comes time to casting votes in Washington.”
Rascovar said Gilchrest also has the advantage as a Republican with a Republican president in office, and that his strong environmental record allows him to tap into those types of givers as well.
“Entrenched incumbents always can raise tons of cash for the next election,” Rascovar said.
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