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Warren Raised More Than Brown Last Year Ahead of 2012 U.S. Senate Contest
Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren last year out-raised Scott Brown of Massachusetts, who analysts rate as one of the most endangered Senate Republican incumbents in the 2012 elections.
Warren, who didn’t start raising money until August, brought in about $8.9 million in five months to Brown’s total of almost $8.5 million in 12 months. In the last three months, Warren raised $5.7 million and Brown took in $3.2 million.
Brown still entered 2012 with twice as much money to spend. He reported a campaign bank account balance of $12.8 million, double the more than $6 million that Warren, a consumer advocate and Harvard Law School professor, announced.
“We’re on track for Massachusetts to be the most expensive Senate race in the country,” said Nathan Gonzales, deputy editor of the Rothenberg Political Report, a Washington-based publication that tracks congressional races.
The figures were released by both campaigns in advance of the Federal Election Commission’s Jan. 31 reporting deadline.
Brown’s victory in a 2010 special election to take the seat that had been held by the late Edward Kennedy deprived Senate Democrats at that time of the 60th vote they needed to overcome Republican delaying tactics and complicated passage of the health-care overhaul. That measure became law in March 2010.
Brown, 52, and Dean Heller of Nevada are the two most vulnerable Republican senators in 2012, according to Rothenberg.
Democrats, with a 53-47 edge in the Senate, are defending 23 seats to 10 for the Republicans this year.
Democrats ‘Still Upset’
“It’s not just a seat Democrats want to take back to offset losses they could have, Democrats are still upset they lost the special election,” Gonzales said of the Massachusetts race. “Republicans, if they can elect Scott Brown, make their path to a majority easier.”
Warren, 62, served as an adviser to President Barack Obama, helping to set the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that Congress, over near-unanimous Republican opposition, created under the new financial regulation law.
After Republicans indicated they would block Warren’s appointment to head the bureau, Obama nominated former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray. Senate Republicans then blocked Cordray and Obama earlier this month named him to the post through a recess appointment.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan D. Salant in Washington at jsalant@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Silva at msilva34@bloomberg.net.
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