Laura Bush Fundraiser Nets Reichert $90K

Back on February 27th, Laura Bush came to town for a private $1000 $500 plate fundraiser for her husband's helper, Dave Reichert.

Well the first FEC report for Q1 for the WA-08 has been posted, and it is from the Reichert Washington Victory Committee, the same committee used to handle the joint fundraising last August when George Bush himself came to town.

You may recall that the August Bush fundraiser was a bust for Reichert. He suffered from the association with the unpopular president, and the event brought in relatively little money for his campaign, a mere $35,754.80 after the large cost of the event. Individual donations were few, only 56 as reported in October, and the book-keeping was incredibly poorly handled by the Reichert campaign, resulting in a complaint to the FEC for reporting rules violations, an issue that is still outstanding.

Meanwhile, to counter Bush's fundraiser, more than 3,200 individuals made donations in a counter-fundraiser for Darcy Burner, which brought in $123,000 for her campaign.

All in all, it was a disastrous outcome for Reichert.

In contrast, it would appear that the Laura Bush fundraiser did far better for Reichert's coffers.

The event was held at the $2.7 million Medina home of Michael and Marybeth Johnston, big Republican donors. Costs were low (around $14,000 and received as in-kind donations from the hosts - although it is unclear how these are in-kind donations when they are listed both as donations and disbursements), and Reichert's share was almost three times better than what Bush brought in at $90,138,63. The State Republican Party made off with an additional $76,717.31. Itemized donations were recorded from 74 individuals.

FEC filings from the Burner and Reichert campaigns are expected as early as tomorrow. A couple of weeks ago I took an early look at Darcy Burner's Q1 fundraising. At that time I also noted that two years ago Reichert only raised $236,626 in Q1, so the Laura Bush event will help him get a lot of the way to that number. There have also been big money D.C. fundraisers for Reichert that will add to his tally. Meanwhile, word has been floating that Darcy Burner raised at least $400,000 in Q1, well over the $334,181 from Q1 2006.

Going into 2008, Reichert was already trailing Burner by $144,000, so he will want to close that gap in Q1. If Burner's numbers are as strong as initial reports suggest, Reichert is going to have to have had a very good quarter indeed, even with Laura Bush's support, otherwise he could find himself in a sizable hole. I would even opine that anything less than $500,000 will be a major letdown given his need to make up ground. Let's not forget he is the incumbent in this race and expected to have a fundraising edge over a challenger. However, this is definitely not a normal congressional race, and Darcy Burner's efforts so far, coupled by Reichert's less than distinguished congressional record, have turned it into one of just a few races nationally for a Republican seat that Congressional Quarterly is now calling a toss-up.

We'll know exactly how things are shaping up very soon.