WASHINGTON-Credit unions were involved in almost every one of the 535 House and Senate races but focued on a handful of races involving incumbent credit union supporters, and helping into new allies.
In an unusual show of political muscle, CUNA is putting an inordinately large amount of resources behind Republican Lynn Jenkins in her effort to unseat freshman Democrat Rep. Nancy Boyda.
It was Boyda's support for the bankers' efforts to quash the CU Regulatory Improvements Act, or CURIA, that induced CUNA to take the gamble to unseat a House incumbent. After all, incumbents in the House win almost 98% of the time-even if Boyda only won her district last time with 51% of the vote.
"Quite frankly, up to that point we weren't looking at doing anything at all," said Jerel Wright, chief lobbyist for the Kansas CU Association, of Boyda's ill-timed communications to voters, many of them credit union members, about her support for the bankers' opposition to CURIA. Boyda's communications came just before regulatory relief bill with CURIA provisions in it was supposed to come to a vote.
Michigan credit unions were working to help two endangered House Republicans, both supporters of CURIA, who are threatened by the expected tide of Democratic voters in this week's elections. "It's been an incredibly bad year here for Republicans," said Patrick LaPine, chief lobbyist for the Michigan CU League, who noted last month's widely publicized pull-out of the McCain campaign from the state. The action has left several Republican candidates without any national coattails, particularly threatening eight-term Rep. Joe Knollenberg and freshman Tim Walberg, both co-sponsors of CURIA.
Knollenberg, who won last time with just 52% of the vote, has been hurt by redistricting, said LaPine. "It's closer than it should be," he added, of the House Appropriation Committee member's race against Democratic former state Rep. and state lottery commissioner Gary Peters.
Peters and others in Michigan races are being supported with heavy financing from the national Democratic Party. "The (Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee) just dumped a ton of money into the race. He (Knollenberg) just can't keep pace with it," said LaPine.
CUs have been helping raise money and volunteer for Knollenberg, a strong supporter of the CU tax exemption and of funding for overseas credit union development from his seat on the appropriations committee, according to LaPine.
The Democratic tide is also threatening Walberg, another CURIA co-sponsor, who won the last election with just over 50% of the vote.
In recent weeks the Michigan league has contributed to: Michigan Quality of Life Fund, a PAC supporting Michigan Democrats ($25,000); the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee ($15,000); CAMPAC, a leadership PAC for Republican Dave Camp, who would be the senior Republican on the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee $5,000); and Bart's PAC, a leadership PAC for Democrat Bart Stupak ($5,000)-as well as a $5,000 contribution to each of those two candidates' individual campaigns.
With the last Republican in the six-state New England congressional delegation faced with extinction this year and the New York GOP delegation expected to shrink again, the Northeast is rapidly becoming a one-party region.
Amy Kramer, chief lobbyist for the New York CU Association, said she expects the state's delegation to lose as many as three more Republican seats next week, giving the GOP just three of 29 seats after the elections. "Since I've been here the Republican delegation has been steadily shrinking," Kramer said. Both U.S. senators, Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer, are Democrats.
Count among this year's attrition the retirements of 10-term incumbent Jim Walsh of Syracuse and five-termer Tom Reynolds of Buffalo, the recent head of the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee. In addition, Vito Vosella, the CU-backed six-term incumbent from Staten Island, has been forced from the race because of an extramarital scandal, making it likely that seat goes Democrat, according to Kramer.
If so, that could leave just Peter King, John McHugh and Randy Kuhl, as the three surviving Republican members of the delegation. That's down from 13 Republicans in 1998, the year Congress passed HR 1151, the CU Membership Access Act.
In neighboring Connecticut, Chris Shays, the 11-term congressman from Stamford and the last Republican in the New England delegation, has been targeted by the national Democratic Party. Shays won with just 51% of the vote in this largely Democratic district in 2006.
The New York league and CUNA are supporting Democrat Dan Maffei, a staffer for Congressman Charles Rangel, for the Walsh seat; Republican businessman Rep. Chris Lee for the Reynolds seat; and Democratic state Rep. Paul Tonko for the seat around Albany, which has been vacated by retiring 10-term incumbent Democrat Mike McNulty.
CUNA spent more than $500,000 over the previous two weeks on congressional races.
That includes $37,500 in contributions to help eight candidates for open House seats: Daniel Maffei (D-NY) $5,000; Chris Lee (R-NY) $5,000; Paul Tonko (D-NY) $5,000; Gary Trauner (D-WY) $5,000; Ann Kirkpatrick (D-AZ) $5,000; Gerry Connelly (D-VA) $5,000; Erik Paulsen (R-MN) $5,000 and Gregg Harper (R-MS*) $2,500. CUNA has contributed to almost every one of the 34 open House races, a total of $262,250.
Over the last two weeks, CUNA has also spent $246,000 to support two candidates, Kansas Republican Jenkins and Judy Baker, D-Mo., independently of the candidates' campaigns, with tv and radio ads and direct mailings. CUNA has spent $127,000 on behalf of Jenkins, and $120,000 for Baker.
