The House Conservatives Fund — a PAC that was re-formed last cycle by members of the conservative Republican Study Committee and run by Rep. Tom Feeney (R-Fla.) — has filed its papers and announces a take of $312,175 for the first six months of the year. This number, greater than what the PAC raised in all of 2005, includes contributions from 40 other PACs and about 5,000 individuals. The $93,456 cash on hand number indicates a high burn rate, but HCF sources say this is the result of aggressive donor prospecting. Given that the average donor gave about $37, there are are high hopes that repeat contributions will provide a large base from which to fund conservative House candidates in the coming cycle.
This result is somewhat encouraging considering the declining Republican giving in other areas, but it sure doesn’t make up for the hundred-million dollar advantage that Democrats are racking up in the House, Senate and presidential races.
HCF has already managed to make a big difference in Washington during its relatively short life, ensuring that conservatives won primaries in open seats last year, and successfully bringing them through the general election. They backed the losing horse in the Whitehead-Broun race in Georgia, but their record is solid. They helped secure victories for conservatives in 2006 open races such as Bill Sali (R-Idaho), Adrian Smith (R-Neb.), Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.), Michelle Bachmann (R-Minn.), David Davis (R-Tenn.), Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), and Pete Roskam (R-Ill.), among others. They nearly had a perfect primary record in 2006, but for the close defeat of former state Rep. Sharron Angle in Nevada against the more moderate Dean Heller (R-Nev.). So far, they have endorsed former Rep. Jim Ryun (R-Kan.) in his attempted 2008 political comeback, in which he will face a moderate primary opponent.
By way of comparison, the moderate Republican Main Street PAC raised $230,895 in the first six months of the year and finished with $102,927 on hand.