Horsford stands out in fundraising race among Nevada House lawmakers

By Karoun Demirjian

Monday, April 15, 2013 | 11:50 p.m.

It’s always campaign time when you’re in the House of Representatives, and Monday members of Nevada’s delegation revealed just how much work they’ve done toward Election 2014 in the first few months of the new Congress.

New 4th Congressional District Rep. Steven Horsford was the early winner in the unofficial fundraising race among Nevada House lawmakers, pulling in $173,453 over the first three months of the year, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission Monday.

But senior delegation Rep. Joe Heck of the 3rd Congressional District had the most cash on hand, finishing the first quarter with $292,831, and was the only filer quoting no debts.

Heck raised $169,790 during the first quarter, while Rep. Dina Titus of the 1st Congressional District reported raising $87,860, and Rep. Mark Amodei of the 2nd Congressional District reported raising $24,650.

Titus also reported having $79,159 on hand, with $127,159 in debts. Horsford reported $31,622 cash on hand, with $39,448 in debts. Amodei reported having $170,330 on hand, with $19,000 in debts.

Horsford brought in the most money from political action committees, bringing in slightly more than $99,000 from such groups, according to filings, while Heck brought in just over $89,000 from PACs. Titus brought in only about $56,700 in PAC money, but that constituted a larger percentage of her contributions than it did for either Horsford or Heck.

Amodei’s fundraising from the first quarter came almost entirely from PACs — according to his filings, only $600 of his first quarter contributions came from individual donors, and $500 of that was from a single individual.

Horsford appeared to have the most individuals contributing to his campaign, but FEC regulations only require campaign committees to itemize contributions over $200, so it is not possible to determine conclusively which Nevada representative had the most individual donors from Monday’s filings.

Monday was the deadline for lawmakers across Congress to submit their first-quarter fundraising reports. But because House lawmakers are required to file electronically, their totals are more readily available. Senators still file paper reports; so long as they get an April 15 postmark, their filings are considered on time (just like your taxes).