A report released this morning concludes candidates for the Iowa legislature raised over $20 million in 2008 to win seats in the Iowa House and Senate.
The report comes from the National Institute on Money in State Politics. It found candidates for the Iowa House of Representatives raised $15.2 million for the 2008 campaign. Candidates for the Iowa Senate raised a total of $5 million. The average cost of a race for a seat in the Iowa Senate was just over $200,000, while the average cost of a House race in 2008 was just over $150,000.
The report also ranked Iowa’s two major political parties seventh among all the states when it came to fundraising in 2007 and 2008. Iowa Democrats raised $9 million in 2007 and 2008, while the Republican Party of Iowa raised $4.3 million during the last campaign season.
There was only one statewide election in Iowa in 2008 — the U.S. Senate race, which Tom Harkin won. The two parties were raising most of their money to conduct the Iowa Caucuses on January 3, 2008 and then help legislative candidates in the November, 2008 election.
http://www.followthemoney.org/press/ReportView.phtml?r=420&em=87