Best Funded House Incumbents

Money follows power. That simple axiom helps explain why incumbent members of Congress, on average, raise so much more campaign cash than the candidates who want to supplant them.

In fact, 65 U.S. House incumbents each reported more than $1 million in total receipts last year, including six who topped the $2 million mark, according to a CQ Politics analysis of updated campaign finance reports filed by candidates to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) at the end of January.

Many of the members of Congress who raked in seven-figure sums last year are politically influential figures who hold party leadership posts or chair key committees, and they wield fundraising clout commensurate to their stature. Most of these incumbents have “safe” seats that ensure they can stay in Congress for as long as they want.

Other big House fundraisers, though, come from the other end of the electoral security spectrum. They have to raise a lot of money because they face difficult re-election campaigns this year. |Read on|