Claudia Peschiutta
GLENDALE -- Fund-raising records were made to be broken.
Republican Newt Gingrich and Democrat Michael Coles are believed to
have set a congressional fund-raising record in 1996 in their contest for
a House seat in Georgia.
They raised a combined $9.6 million, according to the Federal Election
Commission.
The torch may soon be passed to Rep. James Rogan (R-Glendale) and
state Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Glendale).
Together, the 27th Congressional candidates have raised about $9.4
million and many fund-raisers remain before the Nov. 7 election.
Rogan has taken in more than $5.7 million in his run for reelection,
with his fame as a House manager in the impeachment trial of President
Clinton helping to draw donations from around the nation, campaign
officials said.
Schiff's contributions have exceeded $3.6 million, according to to his
campaign.
The candidates have until Sunday to file reports with the Federal
Election Commission on fund-raising activity through Sept. 30. That
Rogan has far out-raised his Democratic challenger comes as little
surprise to Schiff campaign consultant Parke Skelton.
"Rogan is an incumbent member of Congress, for one thing, and, he's
getting tons of money from corporate political action committees that
would naturally tend to go with the incumbent," he said.
Jason Roe, manager of the Rogan campaign, said the congressman's fame
has helped both candidates raise money.
"This race has never been about Adam Schiff. It's been about James
Rogan," he said.
Rogan and Schiff are attracting support, in large part, because the
27th Congressional District seat is being targeted by both Republicans
and Democrats in a tight battle for control of the House. Whether
Republicans will retain their majority depends on only seven seats.
The Democratic and Republican parties have helped their respective
candidates by running cable television ads on their behalf. Independent
groups are also jumping in to get the candidate of their choice elected.
"We're both getting money from outside of the district," Skelton said.
"The race has a tremendous national following."
The Rogan-Schiff race is fueling attention also because it is a close
contest in a quickly changing constituency.
Once a GOP stronghold, the district has shifted to the left. Of its
about 315,000 registered voters, 44% are Democrats and 37% are
Republicans.
The candidates performed fairly evenly in the March primary, in which
they ran unopposed. Schiff captured 49% of the votes, while Rogan
received 47%.
The congressional contest has also gathered national attention because
of the Rogan's involvement in the impeachment trial, something that has
brought him both support and opposition.
"There are a lot of people that didn't support impeachment that
contribute to Congressman Rogan because they recognize his willingness to
let conscience prevail over polling," Roe said.
Though Schiff lags behind Rogan in fund-raising, the candidates stand
on pretty even ground because they have about the same amount of money
left to spend on the Nov. 7 election.
Schiff campaign officials said they had about $840,000 cash on hand at
the end of the reporting period. The Rogan campaign reported about $1
million remaining.
"We have more to raise, no doubt about it," said Skelton, adding that
there are about 10 Schiff fund-raisers planned before Election Day.
Roe said Rogan will hold three or four more fund-raisers.
"It'll be interesting to see how much will be spent per vote at the
end of the campaign," Skelton said.
