Even safe incumbents spend big

It takes big bucks to win a seat in Congress.

No news there.

But incumbents also spend big bucks even when their seats are safe. Like foot soldiers in line with their party's march toward gaining or keeping majority rule on Capitol Hill, incumbents donate a lot of money they receive from their own donors for the sake of the party.

Such is the case with the two members of Congress who represent separate parts of Winston-Salem.

Mel Watt, a Democrat, and Virginia Foxx, a Republican, have spent a combined $285,000 from their campaign coffers in the first three quarters of the 2012 election cycle, according to the latest statistics from the Federal Election Commission. So far, Foxx faces no challenger, and Watt faces a challenger with little money.

Efforts to reach Foxx and Watt were unsuccessful.

Facing little competition from Lon Cecil, a Libertarian candidate with little money, Watt, who represents the 12th Congressional District, spent about $128,000, or about 68 percent of the nearly $189,000 he received from January to the end of September, according to the Federal Election Commission.

Among the disbursements from the Mel Watt for Congress Committee were $34,000 in political contributions, including a $3,000 donation to the Congressional Black Caucus Institute and a $25,000 donation to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, or DCCC.

In the 2010 election cycle, Watt's campaign committee made more than $200,000 in political contributions, including two donations totaling $170,000 to the DCCC.

In the 2008 election cycle, the committee gave more than $300,000 in political contributions, including two donations totaling $250,000 to the DCCC.

The disbursements offer a glimpse into the workings of today's campaign machine, according to Anthony Corrado, professor of government at Colby College in Waterville, Maine, and a nationally known expert in campaign finance.

Gone are the days when campaign fundraising started in the spring ahead of a November election. Incumbents, even those such as Foxx and Watt in safe seats, are increasingly raising money throughout their term, Corrado said, to curry favor within their party by transferring money to national committees or other candidates' committees, ultimately to help other candidates get elected.

"One of the reasons you see this (spending), even when they don't face major challenges, is that now they face a lot of pressure on Capitol Hill to generate money to transfer to the party so that the party can use it in other congressional races," Corrado said. "Both parties see majority rule as being such a high stake that they try to provide as much as possible, especially in swing states. Majority control means you control the agenda in Congress."

Foxx also donates big money to her party's campaign machine.

Foxx, who represents the 5th Congressional District in Northwest North Carolina, spent more than $157,000, or about 52 percent of the nearly $303,000 she received from January to the end of September.

Among the disbursements during this election cycle made by the Virginia Foxx for Congress Committee was a $50,000 donation to the National Republican Congressional Committee.

In the 2010 election cycle, Foxx's committee made more than $57,000 in political contributions, including two donations totaling $35,000 to the NRCC.

In the 2008 cycle, Foxx's committee gave more than $100,000 to the NRCC, among other political contributions.

Foxx donates the money because she understands that the 13-member North Carolina delegation, which has six Republicans, has a good chance of having more Republicans in it after the November elections, said Andrea Bozek, a spokeswoman for the NRCC, noting that Democratic U.S. Rep. Brad Miller's congressional seat could go to a Republican because of the way it was reshaped as a result of the 2010 Census.

"Virginia Foxx is definitely a rock star among our Republican colleagues and a team player," Bozek said.