Pelosi’s prowess as a fundraiser helps her secure speakership

(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

With no serious challengers, Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was selected by the Democratic caucus Wednesday to resume her position as speaker of the House of Representatives after eight years in the minority.

In a dramatic display of confidence, Pelosi had internal ballots modified so those who pledged to vote against her could do so explicitly. Previously those who opposed her returning as speaker would have just left their ballots blank. Members of Pelosi’s network have actually said Democrats who find voting no politically advantageous are free to do so without fear of repercussion as long as they back Pelosi in the January floor-vote.

Pelosi is no stranger to attacks from within her own party. She has become of the most hated figures in politics, antagonized by everyone from Ann Coulter to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Social justice group Code Pink has protested outside her home and Republicans have made sport of tarnishing Democratic campaigns by tying candidates to her image. According to an ad from the pro-Trump Future 45 super PAC, Pelosi’s return as speaker means a calamity on par with “undefended, open borders,” and “the booming economy, stopped.”

Pelosi is a tempting target for a number of reasons. She is aesthetically a progressive who makes a habit of courting centrists within her own party, and she is widely seen as a pragmatist and a dealmaker rather than an ideologue.

Still, Pelosi earns her keep, thanks in part to her prowess as a fundraiser. Early in her political career, Pelosi earned notoriety as a savvy fundraiser while volunteering for Democrats in San Francisco. Her reputation has stuck. In the 2018 cycle, Pelosi distributed money through the Nancy Pelosi Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee, and PAC to the Future, a leadership PAC.

In spite of this, Democrats have talked openly about opposing Pelosi’s bid to regain the speakership, including a sixteen-member coalition that pledged to dig their heels and demand new leadership for Congress. Members of the group met with Pelosi earlier on the day of the caucus vote and were unsatisfied with the results.

“Our concerns were dismissed outright,” said Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-N.Y.) who attended the meeting according to the Washington Post. “(We) intend to vote against Leader Pelosi in Caucus and on the Floor of the House.”

Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) another signer of the document and vocal Pelosi critic, was also there, as well as Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) who called for Pelosi to be removed as minority leader after the 2016 election. Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) who had previously expressed interest in challenging Pelosi for the speakership, called for unity early on the day of the vote.

Pelosi has a strong history as a legislator. After she became the first female speaker of the house (reaching a height in the presidential line of succession no other woman had before) in 2007, she was instrumental in passing groundbreaking legislation like the Dodd-Frank Act and the Affordable Care Act. But passing bills takes compromise, and compromise courts controversy. The money Pelosi brings in speaks plainly for itself.

According to internal documents obtained by CNN, Pelosi is by far the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s most effective fundraiser. As of June 2018, she had raised far more than anyone else for the DCCC in that year’s election cycle, over $80 million. Compare that to runner-up DCCC Chairman Rep. Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.) who pulled in around $35 million.

The DCCC also received hefty contributions directly from Pelosi’s campaign and her joint fundraising committee totaling around $4 million. The group blew through $73 million in outside spending against Republicans in the 2018 cycle.

Some candidates supported by the DCCC have expressed doubts about Pelosi returning as speaker. Rep-elect. Jeff Van Drew (D-N.J.), who signed the pledge to oppose Pelosi’s return, received $4,999 from the DCCC. Anthony Brindisi (D-N.Y.), another freshman pledge-signer, received $5,469 in the 2018 cycle. He also received $10,000 from Pelosi’s leadership PAC.

Yet another freshman critic, Mikie Sherrill,(D-N.J.) received $5,150. Abi Spanberger and Jared Golden got $405 and $193 from that group respectively.

Also in the 2018 cycle, Pelosi was funding the DCCC through her joint fundraising committee and leadership PAC. The Nancy Pelosi Victory Fund Raised and spent around $3.3 million in the 2018 cycle, more than twice what it went through in 2016. Donors using the online Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue pitched in $1.2 million.

The vast majority of contributions to the Nancy Pelosi Victory Fund came from Pelosi’s home state of California, and over half of that majority came from the San Francisco area. Add in contributions from the New York and Washington D.C. metro areas and you’ve got over $3 million of the total.

The Nancy Pelosi Victory Fund gave $2.5 million to the DCCC and just short of $300,000 to Nancy Pelosi for Congress. They also passed $358,825 to PAC to the Future.

PAC to the Future meanwhile spent $1.1 million on 2018 cycle. Pelosi’s leadership fund gave to over 70 candidates, usually contributions of 5 or 10 thousand. They received funding from $10,000 from Google Inc., Goldman Sachs and the National Football League, as well as $7500 from Lockheed Martin and $5000 from SpaceX.

PAC to the Future sent $16,346 to the DCCC in the 2018 cycle.

Pelosi herself raised over $4 million in the 2018 cycle, just over a quarter million shy of her 2016 personal record. More than half of Pelosi’s contributions come from women. Her opponent, Lisa Remmer, raised $12,442.

This bodes well for those who would like to see Pelosi officially reinstated after the floor vote with the full House of Representatives in January. In spite of Pelosi’s pervasive unpopularity and the growing demand for fresh blood, many more have come to rely on her steady hand as a legislator and the steady stream of contributions she keeps flowing into the party.