
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, May 8, 1990                   TAG: 9005080189
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

CANDIDATES' SPENDING INCREASES

Candidates for this year's congressional elections spent $127 million in the 15 months ending March 31 and had nearly $140 million on hand to begin the final months of the campaign season, the Federal Election Commission said Monday.

The agency's analysis of 1990 congressional campaign fund-raising and spending from January 1989 through March showed the benefits of incumbency, particularly in receiving donations from political action committees.

Incumbents had a more than 6-to-1 overall fund-raising edge over challengers and a 16-to-1 edge when it came to PAC donations, according to the FEC data.

Overall, the FEC computer analysis showed receipts by 1990 congressional campaigns totaled $192.5 million from Jan. 1, 1989, through the end of March, 7 percent more than was raised in the comparable period in the 1987-88 election cycle.

Of those receipts, $150 million went to incumbents. And incumbents accounted for the $94.6 million of the reported $127 million in spending.

The $127 million spent by 1,269 candidates for House and Senate seats up this year represents a 12 percent increase over the 1987-88 cycle. At this point two years ago, 1,344 candidates had spent $113 million.

by CNB