Financial reports run the gamut in District 18 House race

Candidates, experts agree money can’t replace door-to-door campaigning

Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2006

The eight Democratic candidates running for three House of Delegates seats in District 18 have raised a combined total of almost a half-million dollars, with three of the candidates reporting more than $100,000 each.

But experts and the candidates agree that in a district race, there is still no substitute for burnt shoe leather.

‘‘The best way to campaign in a district like this is to have campaign literature and instead of mailing it, go door to door yourself,” said Matthew Crenson, professor of political science at Johns Hopkins University. ‘‘People want to see your face, they want to talk to you, they want to ask you questions that they want answered.”

The two incumbents, Del. Jane Lawton and Del. Ana Sol Gutierrez, both from Chevy Chase, are running on a slate with Del. Richard S. Madaleno of Kensington, who is running unopposed in the Democratic primary for State Senate in District 18. The three have pooled their resources and are sharing the majority of their campaign expenses on signs, mailings and other materials. According to the most recent campaign finance report, the slate has about $21,235, which includes $5,000 from each of the three candidates’ accounts.

Incumbency has its benefits, Gutierrez said, but it also comes with its own challenges.

‘‘In a way it’s been good because everything we’ve done has been together,” said Gutierrez, 64. ‘‘But I think there is then some confusion in the voter’s mind. My neighbor, when I put up our slate sign, she asked, ‘Who is this guy Madaleno-Gutierrez? Is he your cousin?’ I think the candidate’s individual visibility isn’t as great on the slate.”

Gutierrez said she is also raising additional money for her individual account to fund an aggressive voter outreach program in the Hispanic community, with plans for radio ads to run during the next few weeks.

Six challengers are also running for one of the three House seats, including Dana Beyer of Chevy Chase, James Browning of Silver Spring, Alfred C. Carr Jr. of Kensington, Daniel E. Farrington of Chevy Chase, Noah Grosfeld-Katz of Kensington and Jeff Waldstreicher of Kensington. Farrington, Waldstreicher and Beyer are the top two fund-raisers in the race so far. As of the Aug. 15 report, Farrington had $115,756, Waldstreicher had $113,309 and Beyer had $98,071.

Farrington also leads the candidates in the total number of individual contributors with 378. Waldstreicher, the next highest fund-raiser, reported 63 individual contributors, including many family members, and $79,025 of his own money.

‘‘I think that what I’m proud of about the fund-raising we’re doing is how many more individual contributors we have than any other candidate and how many contributors we have coming from inside the district,” said Farrington, 33.

Farrington, who has spent a large portion of his money on consultants to help run his campaign, said he is done fund-raising and is now focused on contacting voters through a three-tiered approach of knocking on doors, direct mail, e-mail and phone calls. Waldstreicher said he has one more fund-raiser before the primary, but is also mostly focused on going door to door.

‘‘Most of our time between now and the primary will be what we’ve been doing is working hard, knocking on doors and listening to voters,” said Waldstreicher, 26. ‘‘There’s no substitute for it. We stand out from the crowd based on our issues, not based on money raised.”

Beyer estimates that she will break the $100,000 mark in the next campaign finance filing on Sept. 1. She said the majority of her money is being spent on direct mail.

‘‘I had hoped that the Internet would be a little more valuable of a tool this time around,” said Beyer, 54. ‘‘But it hasn’t worked out that way. It has not replaced the need for direct mail.”

Carr has raised about $23,620 as of the most recent finance report and estimates he will post about another $6,000 to $8,000 on Sept. 1. He has spent about $10,000 so far, mostly on printed materials.

‘‘It certainly plays a role,” Carr, 40, said of fund-raising in the primary race. ‘‘And some of the candidates are very well funded. But having a lot of money is not enough. Four years ago, the top fund-raisers did not get elected. I think it’s about your message, your experience, and I think it’s making personal connections and contacts one on one with voters.”

Browning, 37, said he would work toward public financing if elected to help level the playing field. He has raised about $51,000 for his campaign, with much of his spending going toward direct mail, though he points out he is not sending out as many mailings as some of his opponents.

‘‘First of all I think most voters judge candidates on the issues, not their bank accounts,” Browning said. ‘‘Second of all, there’s only so much mail you can send. People will think they got too much mail from me, but they’ll think they got way too much mail from some other people.”

Grosfeld-Katz, 21, would also like to see public campaign financing. After raising about $9,100, he is putting most of his money into a single mailing to be sent out closer to the Sept. 12 primary vote.

‘‘That has forced me to do a more of a campaign going door to door,” Grosfeld-Katz said. ‘‘I have to do more, I have to be out there more. That’s why I’m such a big supporter of publicly funded campaigns. It’s hard to compete with wealthier candidates.”