dinated expenditures on their behalf in 1996. This $21.8 million total is substantially less than the $35.6 million in hard money that the parties spent in the 1994 Senate races. The recent record for party hard money spending in a Senate election was set in 1994 in California, where the Democratic party provided more than $2.6 million to the campaign of Senator Dianne Feinstein--just over 16 percent of the money she spent against her opponent, former Republican Rep. Michael Huffington. Parties allocate a greater share of their resources to House and Senate challengers than do any other group. In 1996, the Democrats and Republicans distributed 53 percent and 32 percent, respectively, of their contributions and coordinated expenditures to House challengers in contested races. The Democrats contributed more to challengers because they were pursuing an offensive strategy, designed to defeat Republican incumbents, whereas the Republicans focused on protecting their marginal incumbents, many of whom were first-term members. The figures for Senate elections show similar but somewhat weaker patterns. In 1996, the Democrats distributed 28 percent of their contributions and coordinated expenditures to Senate challengers, whereas the Republicans contributed 20 percent . Labor PACs came next, allocating 17 percent of their funds to challengers--all Democrats--followed by non-connected PACs, which donated 13 percent of their funds to challengers of both parties. Corporate and trade association PACs were tied, each contributing about 10 percent of their campaign dollars to challengers. Party organizations, especially the congressional and senatorial campaign committees, also assist candidates involved in close races (and some others) by providing them with services in campaign management, fund raising, issue and opposition research, advertising, and other aspects of campaigning that require technical expertise or in-depth research. These organiza...
