Van Hollen Dominates Edwards in Early Fundraising for U.S. Senate Seat
Reps. Donna Edwards, D-Fort Washington, and Chris Van Hollen, D-Kensington, reached the first measuring stick moment in their campaign to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Maryland, when they filed campaign finance reports with the office of the Secretary of the Senate on April 15. They are the only declared candidates in the race at this point.
Filings show that Van Hollen has outraised Edwards $1.25 million to $335,000. The following is a Capital News Service analysis of the declared candidates' campaign finance filings.
Because the FEC only requires contributions that total more than $250 to be itemized, there is not data for smaller contributions. Therefore this analysis does not take those contributions into account and all references to individual contributions are to those larger than $250.
All data, except where otherwise noted, is taken directly from the candidates' FEC filings.
Historically, Van Hollen Outpaces Edwards in Fundraising
Over his career, Van Hollen has proven to be a more formidable fundraiser than Edwards. He has outraised Edwards by $4,123,545 since 2008, the year Edwards was first elected to Congress. In most years, Van Hollen exceeded Edwards' total through either individual contributions or contributions from PACs. Since 2008, he has raised more than twice as much as Edwards.
How did Van Hollen raise so much more than Edwards? He had more donors who were willing to give him more money. On average, his 485 donors each gave almost $500 more than Edwards' 169 contributors.
Edwards Raises Most of Her Money Outside of Maryland
Edwards has been endorsed by groups that fundraise for candidates nationally. So far in her 2016 Senate campaign, she has raised $22,000 in individual contributions through Emily's List, a group that seeks to put more women in elected office. Another national grassroots progressive group, Democracy for America, founded by former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, has also helped her raise money, though numbers raised through that group were unavailable.
Van Hollen, on the other hand, raises most of his money from within Maryland. He raised $718,511 from individual contributions made in Maryland, more than double Edwards' fundraising total.
Van Hollen takes advantage of his district, one of the wealthiest Congressional districts in the country, which includes Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Kensington and Potomac. He raises much more of his money from inside his district than the average representative, while Edwards raises much less.
While Edwards' district doesn't put her at a disadvantage compared to most other Representatives, it does put her at a disadvantage to Van Hollen. Edwards' district's average household income of $71,000 is less than the average in Maryland, but it's well above the national average of $52,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In fact, it's higher than every state in the United States, except for Maryland.
Edwards Dominates in Prince George's, Van Hollen in Montgomery
Van Hollen and Edwards, both from Maryland's Washington suburbs, have raised most of their money for 2016 from that area. Edwards did not draw $10,000 from any single zip code within Maryland. Neither candidate drew much money from the Baltimore area, where they will have to compete for votes and where the last three elected senators from Maryland have come from, including Mikulski.