Look Who it Was Random video

Politicians who spend millions to run campaigns against no one

315 views · Published 8 July 2018 · 3:13 · Indexed 28 October 2026

Channel: 9NEWS · 2018 · News & Politics

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It’s not exactly like they had a good reason to raise piles and piles of cash. 

Their races, truth be told, weren’t exactly horse races. 

Yet time and time again, Congressional races featuring zero competition raised millions and millions of dollars. 

9NEWS tracked 29 candidates – candidates who ran virtually unopposed in 2016 – still managed to raise $38 million running for Congress. 

That comes out to $1.3 million for each campaign. 

Campaigns, mind you, that never needed to exist, because – as we said – the campaigns featured no other candidates other than the incumbents. 

This all comes at a time when more and more districts have become decidedly less competitive. 

The Cook Political Report concluded 76% of all races for the U.S. House of Representatives were sure bets in 2008. 

That year Opensecrets.org tracked $2.5 billion in congressional campaign donations. 

In 2016, 87% of all seats were non-competitive. Yet candidates managed to raise $4 billion. 

Bottom line: They’re raising more at a time when fewer races are competitive. 

Chris Vanderveen takes a closer look at the numbers. 


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