Gibson-Eldridge race among nation's costliest

PHOTOGRAPHER: Peter R. Barber

U.S. Rep. Chris Gibson, left, gestures to his opponent, Sean Eldridge, at a 19th Congressional District debate in the WMHT studios Oct. 16.

This year’s 19th Congressional District race between Chris Gibson and Sean Eldridge was among the costliest in the entire country, according to data released Friday.

The two candidates raised $9.6 million between them and spent $9.3 million on the general election, ranking the contest the third-most expensive House race in the country, according to an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics.

Gibson, a Kinderhook Republican, easily won re-election. The district is centered in the central Hudson Valley and includes Schoharie County, western Montgomery County and part of Rensselaer County.

The races in the 19th and 21st congressional districts were among the most closely watched nationally this year, with Eldridge offering a high-profile challenge to Gibson and the 21st seat available with the retirement of Democrat Bill Owens.

Gibson, an Iraq War veteran who was first elected to Congress in 2010, raised just under $3 million, while Eldridge raised $6.3 million, including more than $4 million he donated to himself, according to Federal Election Commission records. Candidates filed their last spending reports in late November.

Outside organizations also spent significantly in the 19th District. The National Republican Congressional Committee spent nearly $1.2 million to support Gibson or attack Eldridge, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce spent $650,000 to help Gibson.

Despite Eldridge’s heavy spending, the final result wasn’t close: Gibson got 62.6 percent of the vote to 34.5 percent for Eldridge.

Even nationally, high spending totals aren’t necessarily an indication a race was competitive. The country’s most expensive House race, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, was in southwestern Ohio’s Eighth District, where House Speaker John Boehner raised and spent $17 million, despite having a Democratic opponent who spent less than $200,000.

The only other race in which more than $10 million was raised was in the Wisconsin district represented by Rep. Paul Ryan, the former GOP vice presidential candidate and chairman-elect of the House Ways and Means Committee. Ryan raised more than $9 million to face a Democratic opponent who raised less than $1 million.

While Boehner and Ryan are powerful leaders who lobbyists and political action committees likely donated to hoping to win favor, the high spending in the 19th district was due to Eldridge’s willingness to spend his own wealth.

Eldridge, who is married to one of Facebook’s founders, spent $4.25 million of his own money, which made him the No. 2 self-funding House candidate this year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

In the other closely watched Capital Region congressional race, more than $4 million was spent among all candidates as the GOP picked up the open 21st Congressional District seat. The district stretches across the North Country from Saratoga and Fulton counties to the Canadian border.

Winner Elise Stefanik, a Republican, raised just under $1.9 million, while her Democratic opponent, filmmaker Aaron Woolf, raised just over $2 million, including personally loaning his campaign $800,000, according to FEC filings. Green Party candidate Matt Funiciello raised only $35,000.

Stefanik, who at age 30 will become the youngest woman ever elected to Congress when she is sworn in Jan. 5, won easily. She carried all 12 counties in the district.

The candidates’ spending doesn’t tell the whole story, though. The National Republican Congressional Committee spent $858,000, most of it on ads attacking Woolf. New York 2014 spent $482,000 and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce spent $300,000, both on ads to support Stefanik.

In the 20th Congressional District, incumbent Democrat Paul Tonko, D-Amsterdam, raised just over $1 million, while Republican challenger Jim Fischer of Ballston raised only $145,000.

No significant outside money went into the Tonko-Fischer race. Political pros gave Fischer little chance of defeating the incumbent, who has held elected positions in Montgomery County government, the state Assembly or Congress for nearly 40 years.

The Capital Region also had one of the most expensive state Senate races in history, with more than $5 million spent on the 46th Senate District contest. Republican George Amedore, who defeated incumbent Cecilia Tkaczyk, raised $2.9 million, to the $2.3 million raised by Tkaczyk.