Who would have thought that a Democratic incumbent’s most loyal supporter in a rebellious political climate would be a defense contractor?
A review of the industry’s giving, however, shows that to be the case in some of the most hotly contested House and Senate races this year.
Take the reelection race of freshman Virginia Rep. Glenn Nye, who is among the top targets for the National Republican Congressional Committee.
In 2008, Nye netted less than $10,000 in defense industry donations. Less than two years later, after serving on the House Armed Services Committee and fighting to keep an aircraft carrier stationed in Norfolk, Va., defense donations to his campaign have increased 10-fold.
Defense cash is part of what’s put Nye slightly ahead of his opponent, GOP challenger and wealthy car dealer Scott Rigell, in fundraising totals — even as the anti-incumbent sentiment roiling the 2010 campaign season has given Rigell an advantage in some polls.
Nye’s race follows the perennial pattern of giving for top defense firms Lockheed Martin, Boeing Co., Northrop Grumman and others, which bet heavily on incumbents and stand by them in good times and bad.
“This may be the worst year in a long time to bet on incumbents, but it’s the natural reflex of the defense industry,” said Loren Thompson, chief operating officer of the defense-industry-backed Lexington Institute.
Defense companies go with the members they know — pouring money into the campaigns of members on the Armed Services Committee and the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. “Generally speaking, the defense industry has a very finely tuned grasp of where individual members are coming from,” Thompson said.
That’s certainly the case with Missouri Rep. Ike Skelton, chairman of the Armed Services Committee.
A 33-year Capitol Hill veteran and conservative Democrat, Skelton has rarely faced a tough contest. In 2008, he was reelected with 66 percent of the vote while 61 percent of his district voted for Republican John McCain over Democrat Barack Obama.
Those vote variations help explain why the NRCC decided to target Skelton this year. The chairman is facing heat from former state representative Vicky Hartzler, who’s getting support from House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio).
So far this year, Skelton’s brought in nearly $150,000 from his top five contributors: Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Finmeccanica. Industry insiders are also monitoring his race closely, and company representatives say they will increase their giving if Skelton stumbles. Thus far, Skelton is holding on to a small lead — 45 percent to 41 percent — in recent polls.
Beyond supporting the top members of the Armed Services Committee and the Appropriations subcommittee dealing with defense, General Electric Co. and Boeing have doubled-down on incumbents in races in which there’s a specific defense issue at stake.
GE is embroiled in a knockdown fight against Pratt & Whitney Measurement Systems and the administration to continue making an engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. That issue is most important to the Ohio 1st District race between incumbent Democratic Rep. Steve Driehaus and Republican challenger, former Rep. Steve Chabot.
Recent polling has shown the race tightening, and Driehaus holds a slight cash advantage, thanks in part to GE employees who have given $32,350 to his campaign and none to Chabot’s — despite the fact that the candidates share the same position on the engine issue.
According to Driehaus, he’s defending 1,000 jobs in his district at GE’s Evendale plant near Cincinnati. And he’s painting Chabot as an opponent in this case — since Chabot wins plaudits from the watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste, which opposes the second engine.
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