Washington – Democratic Rep. Jim Himes is spending more money on the races of other Democratic candidates than he is on his own, while his Republican challenger Harry Arora, raised less than $9,000 in campaign cash this summer.
According to the latest filings with the Federal Elections Commission, Himes has raised about $1.9 million in his bid for a seventh term in the U.S. House of Representatives, about $255,000 of that amount in the last quarter, and had about $2.5 million in his campaign account as of Sept. 30.
Arora’s campaign has raised about $230,000 so far, and the candidate has loaned his campaign another $500,000. But the hedge fund manager from Greenwich reported raising only $8,536 in the three-month period that ended Sept. 30.
The Himes campaign reported spending $174,000 on operating costs in the last quarter and another $400,000 in contributions to more than 70 Democratic U.S. House candidates. It also made a $250,000 payment to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
The DCCC collects dues from incumbent Democratic lawmakers so it can help vulnerable House Democrats and those with a chance of defeating a Republican House member or winning an open seat.
Most of Himes’s donations to other Democrats were in the amount of $2,000 each.
“People in the Fourth District and across the country know we need a Democratic House next year — both to provide effective oversight of the executive branch and to make progress on fundamentally important issues like infrastructure, good jobs, education, gun safety, climate change and voting rights,” said Himes campaign spokesman Patrick Malone.
Malone said Himes “can’t do it on his own, however.”
“So it was time to lend a hand where it was most needed and hopefully help bring some worthy candidates across the finish line,” he said.
Democrats hope to take control of the U.S. House in the Nov. 6 midterm election, but that would take flipping at least 23 seats held by the GOP now.
A Democratic turnover would boost the political power of Connecticut’s all Democratic congressional delegation, whose members are rising in seniority.
Himes, for example, may be in line for chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, which is likely to initiate probes into the Trump administration if the panel is under Democratic control next year.