| The Millionaires Amendment has been a much-talked about issue around here lately. We talked about the New York Times editorial on this subject Monday and about the Washington Post editorial on this as well. Even NY-26 Democratic candidate Jon Powers added his thoughts on the subject and why the Millionaires Amendment should stand.
The Times-Union today discussed the impact on the 20th congressional district race, which could end up being Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-Hudson) versus Republican Sandy Treadwell. Treadwell has self-financed his primary campaign thus far and as a millionaire, will self-finance his general election run as well.
From the Times-Union:
One of them is Sandy Treadwell, the leading Republican challenger in the contest in New York's Capital Region over Gillibrand's seat.
Treadwell has written checks totaling $948,800 to his campaign, according to disclosures filed with the FEC. Treadwell's spending means that his Republican opponents in the primary election already can take advantage of higher limits on contributions.
If Treadwell wins the Sept. 9 primary and funnels more than $350,000 of his personal cash into the general election campaign against Gillibrand, the millionaires' amendment would kick in and Gillibrand could accept larger campaign contributions than the law otherwise allows.
Even then, Gillibrand might not benefit from the campaign finance law because of her own fundraising success. The law cuts the other way and the higher limits on campaign contributions do not apply when a candidate's fundraising is so successful that it offsets the wealthy candidate's personal contributions.
Anticipating a tough re-election fight, Gillibrand has raised $3.1 million for the general election contest. This war chest could offset Treadwell's personal spending, which means that she could only accept the smaller campaign contributions set by law.
Gillibrand's recent filing shows us two things: (1) She is not desperate for money. (2) She is one of the more well funded candidates in the entire country.
The Millionaires Amendment would certainly impact this race, but I think more in the primary than the general. Even with his millionaire status, Treadwell is behind Gillibrand in money. He might have a huge money advantage in the primary, but in the general, his wealth is not enough. |
