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House Democrats are in the money

Veteran Democrats in ’s House delegation raised 41% more money during the 110th Congress—their first since 1994 as the majority party— than they did in the previous one. An Insider analysis confirms what political observers expected following the 2006 elections, when Republicans were ousted: Funds flow to lawmakers with the most pull. No one demonstrated that more clearly than Rep. Charlie Rangel, the Harlem Democrat who be- came chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee in 2007; his dollar take jumped more than any other member’s. The table below, ranked by funds raised in 2007-08, excludes those who are no longer in office or who have not served two full terms. All members on the list are Democrats except for Nassau County’s Peter King.

At least a dozen members have so-called leadership PACs in addition to their campaign accounts. Donations to these political action committees are included in the numbers below. A separate table below lists the top 10 contributors to Rangel.

Funds raised Funds raised Percent change Funds raised Funds raised Percent change Member in 2005-06 in 2007-08 vs. previous cycle Member in 2005-06 in 2007-08 vs. previous cycle Charlie Rangel* $3,451,829 $7,257,360 +110% * $1,227,884 $1,163,575 -5% * $2,026,618 $2,575,110 +27% Nydia Velázquez* $805,222 $1,153,713 +43% Steve * $1,571,807 $2,222,047 +41% $862,882 $1,000,776 +16% * $876,116 $1,914,242 +118% $510,564 $822,542 +61% * $1,179,894 $1,744,369 +48% Jose Serrano $312,397 $410,512 +31% Ed Towns* $1,330,386 $1,580,888 +19% $639,777 $379,311 -41% * $1,423,304 $1,442,674 +1% $363,297 $309,556 -15% Carolyn McCarthy* $1,518,345 $1,437,719 -5% Democrats’ totals $19,772,315 $27,945,622 +41% $754,367 $1,313,440 +74% * $917,626 $1,217,788 +33% Peter King*(R) $1,530,735 $1,802,786 +18%

*Has a leadership PAC.

Charlie Rangel’s top donors, then and now Contributor 2005-06 Contributor 2007-08 General Electric ------$36,000 AXA ------$62,100 New York Life Insurance ------$25,500 Citigroup ------$61,950 Altria Group ------$18,288 Credit Suisse Group ------$56,800 Potamkin ------$16,800 MetLife ------$50,500 Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney ------$16,200 J.P. Morgan Chase ------$50,200 Ringler Associates ------$14,000 American Express ------$37,800 Gap ------$13,500 New York Life Insurance ------$29,900 Rudin Management ------$12,100 Johnson & Johnson ------$27,900 Estée Lauder ------$12,000 Rudin Management ------$27,600 First Advantage ------$12,000 The Bank of New York Mellon ------$25,000 Source: Center for Responsive Politics; research: Selena Shen