So You’ve Won Election to Congress—Now What?
Now what? Why, you need to jump into the pockets of big money donors so you can do their bidding, that’s what.
March 31, 2015 is the biggest day on your calendar as a new member. Start chanting it when you wake up. MARCH THIRTY-FIRST! MARCH THIRTY-FIRST! You need to use your new staff and leverage your plum committee assignment to help you make March 31 a success. Unfortunately, March 31 gets in the way of your campaign promises to fix Washington.
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March 31 is the filing date for your first fundraising report with the Federal Election Commission as a sitting member of Congress. It’s your opportunity to flex your new political muscles, to show that you’ve used your important committee assignments to get political cash from the relevant companies, and to prove that you’re not afraid to travel to New York and California and Chicago and ask billionaires to cut you maxed-out campaign checks.
You’ll only have been in office for 90 days, but if you don’t have a healthy initial fundraising report—six-figures healthy—your party’s leadership will put you on death watch. A small campaign war chest shows weakness. It invites competition from the other party, since a challenger might realize you’re not using your new seat to its full financial advantage, and that they won’t have to work that hard to match your financial resources in the next campaign. Your party’s leadership will ask you why you’re making your reelection difficult. Or maybe, they might think, you don’t want to be a good member of the caucus? Maybe leadership wasted one of the slots on Ways and Means for you?
More: So You’ve Won Election to Congress—Now What? - the Atlantic