Texas Conservative Lobbyist: How Much Does a Vote Cost?
The following is a digest of an article originally published at The Texas Tribune. The Texas Lobby Group is posting this summary as a public service for Texas lobbyists, Texas government consultants, Texas politicians, and other interested parties.
The Texas Tribune provides us with a sobering look at how money goes hand in hand with campaigns and getting elected. The Texas Tribune annually takes a look at how much Federal and State House and Senate candidates have spent for each vote they’re received. A definite correlation exists between money spent and votes received. The list is initially organized by dollar amounts spent per each vote, starting at the highest dollar amount. Although there is a connection to winning with high spenders, there appear to be a few situations where outspent candidates did win the popular vote.
“One caveat about the spending data – the expenditure totals used here represent all spending since the beginning of the 2012 election up to Oct. 17, 2012, as reported on the pre-general election reports due on Oct. 25, 2012. Candidates are likely to have spent additional money in the days leading up to election day that is not represented here. These numbers will be made available in the post-general report due in the beginning of December. Two of the highest dollar-per-vote spenders come from Congressional District 23. Topping the list is Republican U.S. Rep. Francisco “Quico” Canseco, who spent $21.33 per vote and lost his seat to Democratic challenger state Rep. Pete Gallego. (Canseco has yet to concede.) Gallego also ranked high on the list in 5th place, spending $15.19 per vote.”
There are many Congressional seats that are not listed in the chart. This is because race results are only posted if a seat is contested by another candidate. That is, if one seat has only one candidate running, the votes are not posted by the Texas Ethics Commission. There are many who win seats by default. Search results can be edited by the viewer to be organized by party affiliation, name, percentage of votes, dollars per vote, and type of race. The Texas Tribune is an excellent source for number crunching information and a good look at various demographics. This an another great example of the truths that hard numbers can illustrate.
Visit The Texas Tribune for the complete listing.
