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CARNAHAN, TALENT RACE EXPECTED TO BE POLITICAL MONEY FEAST
The following piece was written by Pamela Brogan of the Gannett News Service
and was available online Friday, January 25, 2002.
WASHINGTON -- The Senate race between Democratic Jean Carnahan and
former Republican Rep. Jim Talent is shaping up to be a political
money feast.
Both candidates are expected to receive record campaign donations
this year because the contest is more than a battle for a Missouri
Senate seat. It's also a fight for control of the U.S. Senate, where
Democrats now hold a slim one-vote majority.
Carnahan ranks fifth in fund raising among all senators seeking re-
election this year and has raised $2.3 million in campaign donations.
The first public look at Talent's fundraising prowess will be made
available Jan. 31, when quarterly campaign finance reports are filed
at the Federal Election Commission. Carnahan also will report her
latest campaign donations.
Talent is not expected to suffer from a lack of campaign
contributions.
The former lawmaker amassed more than $5 million in general
election campaign funds in his unsuccessful bid to defeat Bob Holden
for governor.
"We fully expect to be competitive in this race," said Rich
Chrismer, Talent's campaign spokesman.
"He's a proven fundraiser."
"Missouri is going to be flooded with campaign cash," predicted
Larry Makinson, a senior associate at the Washington, D.C.-based
Center for Responsive Politics. "The state is going to be assaulted
with campaign funds to pay for political advertising and get out the
vote efforts."
The center tracks money in politics and its affect on elections
and public policy.
Rebecca Lambe, campaign director for Carnahan, agreed that both
parties would spend significant sums in Missouri this year.
"It's one of the top targeted races in the nation, there's a lot
of national interest, " said Lambe, who directed the senator's state
activities before joining her campaign. "The senator has received
tremendous support, inside and outside of Missouri."
Democratic interests have wasted no time in making Carnahan a top
recipient of their political largess, which is usually reserved for
incumbents who head powerful committees in Congress or are members of
the leadership.
As a freshman and novice campaigner -- she was appointed to her
seat after her husband, Mel Carnahan, was killed in a plane crash and
elected by the voters posthumously -- the senator is breaking new
ground.
Among all incumbents up for re-election this year, Carnahan is the
top recipient of campaign donations from lawyers and law firms who
have donated $364,350 to her campaign to date, according to the
center.
Law firms and lawyers have contributed $8.3 million so far to the
2001-2002 election cycle and rank No. 1 among 50 top industry groups,
the center reported. The lion's share of lawyers' contributions so
far has gone to Democrats, 68 percent compared to 32 percent for
Republicans, the center found.
Carnahan also leads in two other industry categories and has
collected $32,250 from the beer, wine, and liquor industries and
$19,500 from publishing interests.
Heather Tureen, director of the Association of Trial Lawyers of
America's political action committee, said her group has contributed
$6,000 to Carnahan's campaign and is backing her candidacy.
"We were very supportive of Mel Carnahan and believe that Senator
(Jean) Carnahan is also supportive of the issues that are important
to us," Tureen said.
But other industry groups said that with the race projected to be
a toss-up, they would likely split their contributions equally among
both candidates to cover their political bases.
"Our giving tends to go to candidates on both sides of the aisle,"
said Jim Schwartz, a spokesman for St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch.
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