Congress’ Big Fund-Raisers Get Down to Business--Literally

They are among the most prodigious fund-raisers in Congress, raking in as much as $1 million or more per campaign, although many occupy some of the House’s safest seats. And they spend those huge sums in myriad and unexpected ways that often seem unrelated to direct appeals for votes.

Indeed, to an unprecedented degree, many have become entrenched local institutions, complete with diversified holdings and permanent payrolls, making their economic clout felt back home in ways large and small. In the process, they provide not only traditional constituency services but also a significant source of income for individuals and businesses, from bookkeepers and landlords to print shop owners and office equipment rental firms.

Rep. Charles H. Taylor (R-N.C.), for example, spent $480,000 in his 1996 reelection campaign--10 times that of his opponent. Four months later, Taylor used $141,000 in leftover donations to buy a house in Asheville, N.C., to serve as his permanent campaign headquarters.

Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) spent $491,000 in 1996 while trouncing a foe who raised barely $8,000. Since then, Burton has bought $6,000 worth of firefighter hats (from a hometown vendor) to pass out at parades in suburban Indianapolis--while riding in a red fire engine also purchased with campaign funds.

“Most members of Congress are essentially CEOs of small businesses--dedicated to the expansion of their political futures,” said Dwight Morris, head of the Campaign Study Group, an independent research firm in Springfield, Va., that assisted The Times in a detailed examination of how some House members spend their campaign funds.

Among those examined was Rep. Nita M. Lowey (D-N.Y.), who in her 1996 reelection bid paid salaries totaling $106,773 to campaign aides. Among her staffers is a permanent and full-time fund-raiser, an employee who, Lowey said, enables her to concentrate on the public’s business instead of spending endless hours dialing for dollars.

Lowey was one of several House members whose campaign expenditures were reviewed line by line, in part because she regularly raises--and spends--more than $1 million per election cycle. Lowey also is among a majority of members who devote a great deal of their overall campaign expenditures to activities not usually described as direct campaigning.

In the 1996 cycle, for instance, out of $1,142,034 that Lowey spent, 21% went for overhead expenses--from salaries to cellular phones and pagers--and 22% was spent on fund-raising. That’s nearly as much as the $548,000 Lowey spent for advertising and “persuasion” mail: direct appeals to voters.

Lowey’s district stretches from the southern part of Westchester County into the Bronx and Queens. Like many metropolitan-based lawmakers who face prohibitively expensive television markets, Lowey seeks to reach voters in more targeted ways, such as through ads in ethnic and community newspapers and, above all, direct mail.

Fully 30% of Lowey’s campaign expenditures went for brochures and direct mail. One beneficiary was the Efficiency Printing Co. in White Plains, N.Y., which earned more than $10,000 in printing fees. And beneficiaries of the tens of thousands of dollars Lowey spent for newspaper ads included the Bronx Times Reporter, Jewish World, Queens Gazette, Queens Tribune, the Island Current, the Pennysaver and the Pelham Weekly.

The landlord of her campaign headquarters earned $23,829 in rent, and a nearby parking lot made $812. A local communications firm earned $4,439 in fees for providing cellular telephones and pagers. An office supply company sold $6,264 worth of materials to Lowey’s campaign.

Whether she will wage another million-dollar campaign in her current reelection bid for a sixth term remains to be seen; this fall, Lowey faces no GOP opposition.

Lowey’s spending practices are not atypical. For many members of Congress, Morris said, “there is a permanent [campaign] office, staffed by well-paid professionals and filled with the latest computer equipment and communications technology. There are corporate perks, including free automobiles, chartered jet travel and virtually unlimited expense accounts.

“The term ‘campaign treasury’ is a misnomer. What we’re really talking about are ‘political treasuries,’ which are used for a variety of things, including the election at hand.”

One of the more common practices is the leasing of automobiles. Rep. William “Bill” Clay (D-Mo.) has already spent more than $12,000 to lease a car for use in the current election cycle. Similarly, Rep. Dan Schaefer (R-Colo.) pays a monthly lease of $930.05 while also using campaign funds to pay for the car’s insurance and maintenance.

According to Mary Wenke, Schaefer’s campaign manager, he keeps a car at the airport back home and uses it whenever he returns from Washington, which averages three times a month.

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) uses campaign funds to finance trips every other year to Portugal (last year’s tab: $2,138). Frank justifies the practice by arguing that many of his constituents are of Portuguese descent.

Putting relatives on the campaign payroll is another time-honored practice. House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Texas), who spent $1.6 million in his 1996 reelection race, has paid $39,142 so far to his daughter, Danielle, for managing his current campaign. In the last election cycle, she earned $25,000 as his assistant campaign manager.

Until he announced in March his plans to retire, Rep. Esteban Edward Torres (D-Pico Rivera) had a daughter working on his reelection, earning $2,100 a month for coordinating fund-raising events and writing direct-mail solicitations and “persuasion” mail.

Gifts to constituents and donors are a popular means of spending campaign funds. Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Redlands) bought $4,754 worth of Christmas ornaments last year for distribution.

Many members also give generous sums to other candidates. In 1992, when Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) won reelection by a whopping 82% of the vote, she gave $173,308 to various Democratic candidates. During the current election cycle, Pelosi has given $10,000 each to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the campaign of Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.).

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Another big giver is Rep. Jennifer Dunn (R-Wash.), a rising star in the House GOP. During the 1996 campaigns, she donated $153,569 to like-minded candidates and groups.

Dunn and Rep. Thomas J. Bliley (R-Va.), chairman of the House Commerce Committee, are among those who regularly raise and spend more than $1 million per campaign while occupying relatively safe seats. Both, in effect, turn over their entire reelection efforts to consulting firms.

Bliley in 1996 paid about $150,000 to MBM Consulting, a husband-and-wife team whose offices are located in the same Richmond, Va., office building as Bliley’s congressional district office. Among Bliley’s campaign expenditures was a $25,000 outlay to host a fund-raising golf-and-tennis tournament at the exclusive Country Club of Richmond, complete with souvenir watches with his picture on the face.

Dunn paid the Washington-Lincoln Group in Kirkland, Wash., some $237,000 for everything from voter research and direct-mail fund-raising to getting out the vote. In Seattle, the Boruk Printing Corp. earned $1,429 for silk-screening campaign T-shirts.

One of the biggest campaign spenders is Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.), who succeeded his father in 1955 and is now the longest-serving House member. In 1996, Dingell spent more than $1.8 million--seven times as much as his foe--while winning 62% of the vote.

Dingell maintains what amounts to a perpetual campaign for reelection, an effort that ran up $461,000 in overhead expenses last year, with more than half going for salaries and payroll taxes.