New House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Sander Levin is doling out cash like he wants to keep his gavel — and fellow tax writer Richard Neal is spending like he wants to take it away.
Levin, a Michigan Democrat, contributed $100,000 to 64 Democratic candidates in March, according to his first-quarter filing with the Federal Election Commission. He also turned over $110,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and even found a few bucks for the state party and two state House candidates.
He found himself flush with cash soon after winning the chairmanship when Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) stepped down in early March amid an ongoing ethics investigation. Levin pulled in $314,969 in the first three months of the year — at least $231,550 of it in the 28 days he held the gavel — making it his best fundraising quarter since at least 2000. It’s also more than double the roughly $153,00 he raised in the first quarter of the previous election year.
“First and foremost, he is absolutely engaged in making sure that we stay in the majority,” Levin’s chief of staff, Hilarie Chambers, told POLITICO, adding that he is also preparing for a primary and continuing to “play a role in Michigan politics.”
Of course, Levin’s also purchasing insurance on the gavel — which could be up for grabs again in the next Congress. But the goodwill he buys with colleagues and party leaders by helping to fund campaigns in tough districts may or may not be enough to stave off Neal. - Politico Story
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