11th Congressional District money race: Shuler benefits from Pfizer, UAW and CSX while Campbell pays himself and Mumpower scrapes by with $730 in the bank

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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Charlotte.com is keeping tabs:

PACs give to incumbents
Donations from political action committees helped push the amount of funds raised by N.C. congressional incumbents into six figures, year-end financial reports show. Freshman Rep. Heath Shuler, a Waynesville Democrat, raised $161,000 in the three-month period, with $93,375 coming from PACs, including those backed by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, the United Auto Workers and CSX railroad. He had $625,656 in cash as of Dec. 31.

Among those who have said they are running against Shuler for the 11th Congressional district seat: Spence Campbell, former chairman of the Henderson County Republican Party, contributed $120,000 of his own money to his campaign and raised $28,000 from other individuals. Asheville City Councilman Carl Mumpower, also Republican, raised $3,000 last year and had $730 in the bank at year’s end.

Rep. Patrick McHenry, a Cherryville Republican, raised $140,000 in the fourth quarter for his campaign for a third term representing the 10thCongressional district. About $59,000 came from PACs backed by Lowes, Wells Fargo and Time Warner Cable. He had $203,000 in cash at year’s end.

Among his challengers, Daniel Johnson, a Democrat from Hickory, was keeping pace by raising $124,000 in his first few weeks of fundraising, and had $119,000 in the bank. Republican Lance Sigmon of Newton hadn’t started fundraising yet but contributed $8,000 of his money to the campaign.

Rep. Sue Myrick, a Charlotte Republican, raised $168,000, with $110,000 coming from PACs such as Wachovia, Ford Motor Co. and GlaxoSmithKline pharmaceuticals. She had $279,000 in cash at year’s end.

A Democratic opponent, Harry Taylor of Charlotte, raised $30,000 and loaned his campaign $31,000. Another challenger, Democrat Ross Overby of Charlotte, loaned his campaign $11,000.

Rep. Mel Watt raised $72,000 in the quarter, with $65,500 coming from PACs, including Countrywide, American Express and Wal-mart. He had $209,000 in the bank at the end of the year.

Rep. John Spratt, a Democrat from York County, S.C., raised $91,000, with $81,000 coming from PACs, including Anheuser-Busch, Bank of America and Boeing. He had $385,000 in cash.

Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., who isn’t up for election this year, raised $218,000 in the last three months of 2007, with $51,500 from PACs such as Prudential Financial, Goldman Sachs and Goodrich.