News Releases, Media Advisories
FEC RELEASES INFORMATION ON PAC ACTIVITY FOR 1997-98
WASHINGTON - Money raised and spent by political action committees (PACs) increased during the 1997-98 election cycle when compared to the previous two-year cycle, according to figures released today by the Federal Election Commission. From January 1, 1997, through December 31, 1998, 4,599 PACs raised $502.6 million, an increase of 15% over 1995-96 and spent 10% more, $470.8 million. Cash on hand as of December 31, 1998, totalled $138 million.
PACs contributed $219.9 million to federal candidates for the 1997-98 cycle, only slightly more than the previous election cycle. Of this amount, $206.8 million went to candidates seeking election in 1997-98 while the remaining $13.1 million was given to candidates running for office in future years, or for debt retirement. The following table shows the total amount contributed as well as the distribution of PAC contributions between Senate and House candidates over several election cycles.
PAC CONTRIBUTIONS |
97-98 |
95-96 |
93-94 |
91-92 |
89-90 |
87-88 |
85-86 |
83-84 |
81-82 |
79-80 |
77-78 |
||
All Federal |
|||||||||||||
Candidates |
$219.9 |
$217.8 |
$189.6 |
$188.9 |
$159.1 |
$159.2 |
$139.8 |
$113.0 |
$87.6 |
$60.2 |
$35.2 |
||
Current Candidates |
$206.8 |
$203.9 |
$179.6 |
$179.4 |
$149.7 |
$151.1 |
$132.7 |
$105.3 |
$83.6 |
$55.2 |
$34.1 |
||
Senate |
$48.1 |
$45.6 |
$47.2 |
$51.2 |
$41.2 |
$45.7 |
$45.3 |
$29.7 |
$22.5 |
$17.3 |
$9.7 |
||
House |
$158.7 |
$155.8 |
$132.4 |
$127.4 |
$108.5 |
$102.2 |
$87.4 |
$75.7 |
$61.1 |
$37.9 |
$24.4 |
||
As in previous elections, incumbents continued to receive the bulk of PAC contributions. The following table shows the distribution of contributions to incumbents, challengers, and open seat races over seven election cycles (in millions of dollars).
AMOUNT AND PERCENTAGE OF PAC CONTRIBUTIONS |
||||||||||||||
ACCORDING TO CANDIDATE STATUS |
||||||||||||||
1997-98 |
1995-96 |
1993-94 |
1991-92 |
1989-90 |
1987-88 |
1985-86 |
||||||||
Incumbents |
$170.9 |
78% |
$146.4 |
67% |
$137.2 |
72% |
$135.3 |
72% |
$125.8 |
79% |
$118.2 |
74% |
$96.2 |
69% |
Challengers |
$22.1 |
10% |
$31.6 |
15% |
$19.0 |
10% |
$22.9 |
12% |
$16.2 |
10% |
$18.9 |
12% |
$19.9 |
14% |
Open Seats |
$27.0 |
12% |
$39.8 |
18% |
$33.4 |
18% |
$30.7 |
16% |
$17.1 |
11% |
$22.2 |
14% |
$23.8 |
17% |
Republican congressional candidates received slightly more PAC contributions than their Democratic counterparts. Republicans received $108 million from PACs, up $1.3 million from the previous cycle, while Democrats received $98.3 million, up $4.4 million from the 1995-96 cycle. The following chart provides PAC contributions and percentages by political party over several election cycles (in millions of dollars).
AMOUNT AND PERCENTAGE OF PAC CONTRIBUTIONS GIVEN BY PARTY |
|||||||||||||
1997-98 |
1995-96 |
1993-94 |
1991-92 |
1989-90 |
1987-88 |
||||||||
SENATE |
|||||||||||||
DEMOCRAT |
$20.7 |
43% |
$16.6 |
36% |
$23.9 |
51% |
$29.0 |
57% |
$20.2 |
49% |
$24.2 |
53% |
|
REPUBLICAN |
$27.3 |
57% |
$29.0 |
64% |
$23.2 |
49% |
$22.2 |
43% |
$21.0 |
51% |
$21.5 |
47% |
|
HOUSE |
|||||||||||||
DEMOCRAT |
$77.6 |
49% |
$77.3 |
50% |
$88.2 |
67% |
$85.4 |
67% |
$72.2 |
67% |
$67.4 |
66% |
|
REPUBLICAN |
$80.7 |
51% |
$77.7 |
50% |
$43.9 |
33% |
$41.7 |
33% |
$36.2 |
33% |
$34.7 |
34% |
|
In addition to contributions, PACs made $9.3 million in independent expenditures for and against candidates. Of this amount, $7.9 million was spent on behalf of various candidates and $1.5 million was spent against them.
The following pages provide data on PAC financial activity for the 1997-98 election cycle and comparable summary statistics for several previous election cycles. Other tables show the distribution of PACs by total amount spent and total contributed to candidates. Also included are the rankings of the "Top 50" PACs in various categories, such as money raised and spent.
This news release and accompanying statistics can be found on FEC’s Web site, http://www.fec.gov.
Summary of PAC Financial Activity for 1997-98
PAC Contributions to Congressional Campaigns by Office, Party, and Candidate Status 1997-98
Historical Overview of PAC Financial Activity
Independent Expenditures by PACs during 1997-98
Historical Overview of PAC Contributions to Congressional Candidates 1994,1996, and 1998
PAC Contributions to House Campaigns by Candidate Status 1982-1998
PACs Grouped by Total Spending
PACs Grouped by Total Contributed to Candidates
Top 50 PACs by Contributions to Candidates
Top 50 PACs by Ending Cash on Hand
50 PACs with the Largest Dollar Growth in Contributions 1996-1998
50 PACs with the Largest Dollar Decline in Contributions 1996-1998
50 PACs with the Largest Dollar Growth in Receipts 1996-1998
50 PACs with the Largest Dollar Decline in Receipts 1996-1998