Published: October 26, 2008 02:05 pm      

Barth outraises Capito as House race winds down

CHARLESTON — Underscoring its status as West Virginia’s most competitive congressional contest this year, Democrat Anne Barth out-raised Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito during the latest reporting period in their race to represent the 2nd U.S. House district.

Barth attracted more than $122,500 during the first half of the month, about $42,200 more than Capito.

Barth got a boost when Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., stumped for her Oct. 10 and headlined a fundraiser. She also received $47,500 from political action committees, while Capito got $14,866 from that source during that time.

Capito still has an overall money advantage over Barth. But it fell from more than 4-to-1 to less than 2-to-1, after Capito spent more than $723,000 during those 15 days. The Democrat spent $140,100 during that time.

Television ads buys consumed the bulk of those funds for both campaigns, as they compete in an 18-county district that stretches from the Kanawha Valley to the Eastern Panhandle. Capito spent another $42,000 on polling.

Capito had $391,830 on hand as of Oct. 15, while Barth had a balance of $227,158.

Barth has raised more than $1 million since entering the race in January, while Capito’s bid for a fifth term has gathered nearly twice that at $1.9 million. But their combined fundraising is less than half what Sen. Jay Rockefeller has amassed as he seeks a fifth term in that chamber.

The Democrat had received $6.7 million by Oct. 15, including a half-million dollars during the filing period. Republican Jay Wolfe, who challenged him without success in 2002, nearly doubled his overall haul as he pursues a rematch by raising $34,500 during the latest period. Rockeller had a balance of $1.6 million, the most of any West Virginia congressional candidate. Wolfe had $5,992.

In the state’s remaining contested congressional race, Democratic Rep. Nick Rahall has $1.3 million on hand after raising $21,225 and spending $5,124 during the filing period. His GOP opponent, Marty Gearheart, has not raised enough funds to trigger a report.

Nearly all of what Rahall spent went to county Democratic Party committees in his 3rd House district and to a Kentucky congressional hopeful. Rockefeller also proved generous to fellow Democrats: $475,000 of the $1.7 million he’s spent this month benefited the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, state and county committees and candidates directly.

Of his transfers, $11,000 went to Clinton’s leadership PAC and her now-closed presidential campaign. The latter seeks to pay off its debts.

Capito has similarly sought to help fellow Republicans, giving $1,000 each to 20 of her party’s congressional hopefuls in 13 states. More than half are in races in which the Democrat is favored, as national political analysts forecast that the already-minority GOP will lose between 23 and 30 seats next Tuesday.

A pair of those observers have upgraded the Capito-Barth race’s competitiveness in recent days, though neither is calling it a toss-up. Larry Sabato and The Cook Political Report each moved the race Friday to “Leans” from “Likely” Republican.

National Democrats, meanwhile, continue to aid Barth’s effort. Besides $5,000 from Clinton’s PAC, Barth’s pre-general contributions include $14,250 in PAC funds relayed to her by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. The DCCC also served as a conduit for $11,100 from individuals for Barth, while the Internet-based, party-aligned ActBlue relayed another $11,851.

Democratic and labor PACs remain Barth’s chief source of those funds. Capito’s PAC donors during the period largely reflected financial services, insurance and health care interests, which have been major source for her overall campaign.

Rep. Alan Mollohan, unopposed in the state’s 1st House district, had $39,630 on hand after raising no money during the filing period. Of the $15,000 he spent, $2,000 went to Wood County’s Democratic Party committee.