Zack Space out-fundraising GOP challenger by six-to-one
By Jim Phillips
July 31, 2008
In June 2007, first-term U.S. Rep. Zack Space, D-Dover, warned supporters in Athens that the Republican Party had painted a great big target on his back.
“I have been singled out by ‘Bush’s Brain,’ Karl Rove, as number three on the list (of targeted Democrats in Congress),” Space claimed during a local party event.
A year later, however, it’s beginning to look as though the GOP may be loosening its grip on hopes for winning back Ohio’s 18th Congressional District from the freshman Democrat.
Space won the seat in 2006, in the midst of headline news that GOP incumbent Bob Ney of Belmont County was under investigation on corruption charges. Ney ended up going to federal prison.
Given the socially conservative nature of the district, which covers 16 southern Ohio counties including a small part of northern Athens County, the national Republicans seem to have thought early on that Space would be vulnerable after just one term in office.
If the numbers on campaign fundraising are any indication, however, the GOP doesn’t look to be coming after the Democrat very hard in November.
Figures from the Federal Elections Commission show that as of June 30, Space had raised nearly $1.8 million in campaign funds.
His Republican opponent, the former director of the Ohio Department of Agriculture, Fred Dailey, had raised only $277,640 by the same date, according to the FEC.
This means Space has raised about six times as much money as his challenger to spend on his campaign.
The latest FEC numbers show Space with about $1.14 million in cash on hand.
Of his total fundraising, about $820,000 came from individual donors, and about $960,000 from political action committees or similar groups.
Dailey has about $112,000 in cash on hand, the FEC documents indicate. About $193,000 of his total money came from individual donors, and about $33,000 from PACs or other non-campaign committees.
When Republican state Sen. Joy Padgett ran against Space in 2006 for the seat that came open when Ney stepped down, she raised more than $850,000, according to the FEC. Space raised about $1.6 million in that race.
Dailey downplayed the importance of Space’s big cash advantage Monday.
“He’s got access to the Pelosi ATM machine,” the candidate said, referring to Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “He’s getting money from out-of-state special-interest groups, liberal groups, and he’s way ahead of us… and he’s going to need that money come November.”
THE REPUBLICAN suggested that he can’t hope to keep up with the national Democratic Party’s fundraising prowess, but said he believes his stands on the issues will carry the day with 18th District voters.
“There’s no way we can compete with all the money coming out of New York and California and Massachusetts,” Dailey said. “But it takes more than money to win congressional races… (Space is) trying to satisfy the Speaker, and yet still fit into the mores and values of the district, and he’s struggling to do that. I’m very optimistic about (the election). It’s not going to be easy, but if we get our message out, we’re going to win this race.”
Based on the FEC contribution database, Space as of June 30 had received 787 individual contributions, with some contributors accounting for more than one donation.
Of these, 320 donations were ascribed to donors who listed addresses outside Ohio, with donors from New York, New Jersey and California predominating.
By contrast, Dailey’s money support came mostly from within the state. Of the 117 individual contributions listed for him with the FEC, only 10 came from out-of-state donors.
Space’s campaign manager, Dan Kelly, said he believes the big disparity in fundraising between the two candidates is “a testament to what Zack’s done in Congress.”
He added that he is especially pleased that during the latest round of fundraising, Space got a lot of “low-dollar support,” from individual funders giving less than $250 each.
AN OHIO UNIVERSITY professor who follows state politics closely suggested Space can probably hang onto his seat as long as he provides the kind of government services district residents have come to expect from their congressional representative.
“He’s got the power of incumbency, and it’s not a matter of ideology; it’s whether you can deliver the pork,” suggested Ken Heineman, a history professor at OU’s Lancaster campus.
Heineman maintained that with industry largely moribund in southeast Ohio, citizens here have come increasingly to rely on the government for economic support.
In such a situation, he said, party affiliation matters less than the ability of an officeholder to “bring it home,” in the form of government services and funding for his district.
Even the disgraced Ney, he suggested, might have won re-election if he’d kept his corruption within reasonable bounds – avoiding, for example, trips to play golf in Scotland at a lobbyist’s expense.
“If you can deliver for the district, most voters are willing to live with a little personal corruption, as long as it’s not blatant,” he argued.
Space has made a point of stressing personal integrity in his office, going to the extent of taking a public vow not to accept lobbyist money.
Dailey slammed the incumbent for accepting more than $20,000 in campaign donations from U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y.
Dailey has suggested that Rangel is ethically compromised because of his use of his office to solicit money for the taxpayer-funded Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service.
Citing a comment by Space in 2006 in which he inveighed against politicians who don’t practice “the highest of ethical standards,” Dailey suggested in a recent news release that taking money from Rangel makes a mockery of this position.
Kelly from Space’s campaign declined to comment on the Rangel contribution. He did say, however, that Space remains committed to refusing lobbyist money, and that if any lobbyist contributions that his campaign has missed are brought to his attention, the campaign will return them.
And even though Space is far ahead in dollar terms, Kelly said, he’s still campaigning hard.
“We’re definitely not taking anything for granted,” he said.
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