Hey, Big (House Race) Spender!

Running a congressional campaign can be expensive. But it’s rare for House members to spend almost as much as they raised in the first quarter of a two-year election cycle.
Still, a few incumbents achieved this feat during the first three months of this year, according to a CQ Roll Call review of their fundraising reports.
Here’s a selection of “big spender” House members in the first quarter:
- CA-03: Democratic Rep. John Garamendi spent $129,000 in the first quarter of this year. He raised slightly more than that — $148,000 — in the same time period.
- MI-01: Republican Rep. Dan Benishek spent $122,000 in the first quarter. That’s just about $40,000 shy of what he raised.
- MN-06: Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann, raised a colossal sum in the first quarter: $679,000. She spent more than that — $892,000 — at the same time.
See Roll Call’s chart of first quarter fundraising totals for competitive House races here.