IN-03: Souder Trails Montagano in Money Race

Sylvia Smith, writing for the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, has an article entitled “Souder trailing campaign cash race.”

As the election season cranks up, [Michael] Montagano’s campaign has $28,000 more on hand than Souder, making him one of the few candidates in the country with a healthier campaign bank account than the incumbent.

Souder has held the seat for 7 terms, showing a loose commitment to his 5 term pledge. But, the District is Republican enough that he has gotten away with abandoning his term limit principle when it became inconvenient. Last cycle, Tom Hayhurst raised a fair amount of cash and gave Souder a solid challenge. This cycle, Montagano seems to be dishing up more of the same against Souder. Souder is in a solidly Republican district and, as such, should be expected to be free of real challenges to his seat. But, his performance has been so lackluster, that he presents an inviting target.

Charlie Cook, editor of the non-partisan Cook Political Report, recently downgraded Souder’s chances of re-election from “solid” to “likely.”

In addition to their Democratic opponents, GOP congressional incumbents are fighting other political forces this year: an unpopular Republican president; polls that show Americans have a dim view of Congress; and a presidential campaign that will sap much of the financial resources of potential donors.

“Nothing is going to fix the Republican brand between now and November,” GOP strategist Glen Bolger said Wednesday.

He added that national Republican organizations that have helped GOP candidates with money in past years will “have to make coldhearted decisions this year” because the political landscape is so bleak and because national Republican committees have raised significantly less money than Democratic organizations.”