Tom Reed's FEC report is out. It shows that Reed raised $136K and has $117K cash on hand. Reed contributed $13K to his own cause.
Reed's financial report is remarkable because it's almost entirely contributions from individuals and political committees in the area. There are no national party contributions, so Reed could still go to that well in the future.
This is a decent first effort by Reed, and it shows that he should be able to finance a credible challenge to Massa in 2010.
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Reed's connections, both in business and Corning, are such that the GOP doesn't have to do all the fundraising themselves. I'd be shocked if that wasn't the entire reason for his getting the county leaders to back him.
I'm sure it was a factor. But there isn't enough money in the district for Reed to mount a real challenge to Massa, so he'll have to look outside to make these kinds of numbers consistently.
i thought that this supposedly rich real estate developer guy tom reed was going to finance his own campaign for congress, and that was why the local and national republicans grabbed onto him.
only putting in a lite $13,000 (was it even cash, or in-kind?) isn't much of a commitment by reed. step it up, pal!
Reed is well-off but I haven't seen any evidence that he has the kind of money to self-finance.
My take down here in Corning is that many, many conservatives like Massa - he appears to be his own man and is viewed as being very hard working. I've said it before, but unless the congressional democrats or Obama go way off the reservation, Massa's reelection is a done deal.
If you look at the healthcare bill as an example, there's a pattern that we're going to see repeating: the most "liberal" parts of bills will be stripped out by the Senate. There's really no way for the congressional Dems or Obama to go too far off the rez.
I don't see much difference between Reed and Massa. Reed appears to be moderate Republican flush with talking points that are hand-picked from the GOP play book. There is plenty of room to the right of Reed for a more conservative candidate to join the race, and I would say plenty of room to the left of Massa. I think ElmerJK is right so long as both candidates are tethered only a short distance from the center.
I'm ready for a conservative candidate to join the race -- look at what it's done in NY-23. It's split the Republican vote and will probably allow a Democrat to take what should be a relatively safe Republican seat.
Doug Hoffman appears to be gaining ground. There is a slim possibility that he may pull it off. Ironically the Republican is the leftist, the Democrat is the Centrist, and well, Hoffman is really the Republican. It's strange series of events going on in the 23rd.
These specials all rely on turnout -- I don't know what else is on the ballot in NY-23. If there's nothing else of interest, and if the right is completely energized, Hoffman might pull it out.
But I really doubt it. It looks like a classic split of the traditional Republican voters that will let the Democrat squeak out a win.
Similarly, a primary in NY-29 would bloody up Reed, cause both candidates to spend a lot of precious cash, and almost guarantee a Massa victory.
"I don't see much difference between Reed and Massa" - think energy level
I guess I wasn't thinking outside the box. I was thinking more about the "issues", even though Reed has tried to differentiate himself from Massa's positions. Yes, I do believe that Mass is very tenacious and the more energetic of the two candidates.
If you look at other heavily Republican districts with Democratic reps (SD-AL & ND-AL are two), you'll see that voters will often ignore ideology if they think their Rep is hard-working and district-focused. I think you'll find the same phenomenon at work in NY-29, where Massa is an extremely hard worker and also comes off as unafraid to listen to constituents with different views.
I don't see much difference between Reed and Massa.
Thank you for sharing it.
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