GOP Leads Democrats in Fund-Raising

WASHINGTON — Republican committees are far ahead of their Democratic rivals in fund-raising for the 1988 elections, but the gap is narrowing and Americans are giving less money to party organizations, according to a federal report released Monday.

The Federal Election Commission said that contributions to five GOP fund-raising entities totaled $166.19 million during the 18 months ending June 30, compared to $59.84 million raised by five Democratic counterparts in the same period.

That left the Republicans in front by $106.35 million, but their lead was smaller than the $152.7-million bulge during the corresponding period in 1985-86 and the $147.85-million advantage for the first three quarters of the 1983-84 election cycle.

$50 Million Less

Together, the 10 party finance committees received about $50 million less than the $267 million they took in during the same period of the last presidential election cycle.

The Federal Election Commission report covered the finances of the Democratic and Republican national committees; their House and Senate campaign committees; their national convention funds, and their state-local finance committees.

Kathryn Murray, communications director for the Republican National Committee, blamed the falloff in GOP receipts on poor response to the GOP’s direct-mail solicitations in the first and second quarters of 1987.

For example, the RNC saw its receipts fall to $61.58 million, compared to $64.16 million in the same period in 1985-86, $75.23 million in 1983-84 and $65.75 million in 1981-82.

Hurt by Scandals

The scandals that rocked the television evangelists hurt direct-mail appeals by the GOP and a variety of non-political fund-raisers, according to Murray. She said that since then, contributions have picked up.

On the Democratic side, contributions to the five entities in the current cycle were only about $98,000 above where they were at the same period in the last presidential cycle.

The Democratic National Committee, which relies less than its Republican counterpart on direct-mail solicitations, had receipts of $16.85 million, down from the $29.76 million taken in during 1983-84. But that drop was offset by increased giving to the Democrats’ House and Senate committees and their committees for state and local party affairs.