Three months after first announcing her challenge to U.S. Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., Jennifer Lawless has raised far less money than Langevin, and his cash on hand dwarfs hers, highlighting the difficulty she faces in taking on an incumbent.
According to documents filed with the Federal Election Commission last week, Lawless, an assistant professor of political science and public policy challenging Langevin in the 2006 2nd District Democratic primary, raised $21,277.10 in the second quarter of 2005, while Langevin has raised $303,335 since the beginning of the year, $34,350 of it last quarter. Overall, she has $9,249.50 cash on hand as of June 30, while Langevin has $232,581.76.
"The reality is that this campaign has been fully operational for about two weeks," said Adam Deitch '05, Lawless's campaign manager. "We are going to be kicking off our most successful fundraising drive yet" soon, he said.
"We're investigating as many possible means of creatively raising the money as we can," he added.
Joy Fox, Langevin's press secretary, wrote in an e-mail to The Herald that "generally speaking, we are comfortable with the numbers and happy with the report. Of course, we will continue to work hard."
All of Lawless' contributions to date have come from individuals - over 80, according to Deitch, many of them out-of-state family and friends. Assistant professors of political science Corey Brettschneider - her campaign treasurer - and Melani Cammett contributed to the campaign, as did Lawless' parents from Middletown, N.Y.
Lawless' mother, Marjorie, gave too much - she donated $4,200, twice the federal limit of $2,100, and the campaign had to return half the money. Deitch said he thinks she accidentally pressed the submit button twice on the online contribution form.
"I think it can be expected that a high percentage of the early donors would be people the candidate would know," Deitch said. But, he said, "ultimately contributors to the campaign will expand and represent a wide range of Rhode Islanders."
Langevin, on the other hand, seems to have a wider base of contributors that includes political action committees: He has raised $124,000 from PACs this year, and all but $2,350 of his financing this past quarter came from PACs.
Darrell West, professor of political science and director of the Taubman Center for Public Policy, was not surprised by the fundraising numbers.
"This is a typical pattern," he said. "Incumbents always find it easier to raise money. They can get money from PACs and other sources around the country."
In order to bring in the next wave of cash, he said, Lawless will need to "identify some issues that resonate with voters, and I suspect the (abortion) choice issue will be one she will go after."
West said she should also seek support from national organizations: "She can get support from pro-choice organizations - that could be a tremendous help for her - or organizations like EMILY's List," which supports women candidates who favor abortion rights.
Deitch said the campaign is courting such organizations, especially the Women's Cam-paign Fund and the Women Under Forty PAC.
As for the money already raised, Lawless's campaign has spent $9,971.50 on "one-time infrastructure costs," Deitch said, such as furniture and a copy machine. The campaign paid $2,233.50 to élan Web Development, a company founded by Ethan Wingfield '07, to develop a Web site.
But the campaign is not yet paying salaries to its full-time staff. "We are dedicated to the cause and we're glad to be here every day doing the work to get Jen elected," Deitch said.
So far Langevin has spent $76,802.46 this quarter and $153,952.59 total this year, as well as holding $90,836.86 in campaign debt left over from his first House race in 2000. Though West said it was unusual for a veteran congressman to have so much debt, Langevin's spokeswoman, Fox, said that "it is at the candidate's discretion to pay it off."
It is early yet, with the Democratic primary some 15 months away, and Deitch is optimistic.
"We will raise the amount of money it takes to run a successful campaign," he said.
