Last week, we kicked off this series about candidates who have surprisingly few donors who actually live in the district they are running for, by pointing out Marcus Richmond (R) over in District 21. His only donors in the district were two in-laws and one employee. He also had the second largest geographic district in the state.
Lest you think that this lack of donors in Republican districts is only a problem in rural districts, however, today we take a look at the second-smallest district in the state, District 38. It is all in Pulaski County and encompasses parts of North Little Rock and Sherwood. It is almost an entirely residential district, with a total population (2016 estimate) of 30,562, of which 22,865 are 18 or older (voting age).
Many1 people may remember Carlton Wing as being a sportscaster for KARK Channel 4. It’s almost too bad he didn’t work for KATV Channel 7 though.
Why?
Well, they have that segment called “Seven on Your Side,” and that would have dovetailed perfectly with the number of individual in-district donors in District 38 who have contributed to Wing’s campaign.
All told, as of October 18, Wing had raised $47,885.00 from all donors (PAC/Party/Individual), both in and outside of his district. Those seven individuals in the district who have chipped in have combined for $3,100, or 6.5% of this total contributions.
As with Richmond, Wing’s main contributors are PACs, who have combined for a little over 62% of his money. Not that these two are unique. Many of the Republicans that we’ve looked at this cycle are approaching fundraising the same way: no sense in wasting time talking to constituents to get contributions when PACs will cut a much fatter check much more quickly.
It is noteworthy, though, that Wing’s opponent, Chase Mangiapane, had twenty-four individual in-district donors in his September CC&E alone. It will be interesting to see if the voters in District 38 choose the candidate who has actually knocked on doors and raised money from within the district, or the one who has relied on PACs over people for nearly all of his fundraising.
“Many” may be overselling it. How about “Some”?↩