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0000017a-15d9-d736-a57f-17ff8cfb0000NHPR's coverage of the 2014 midterm elections, local and national primaries. Click here for voter resources and mapsClick here for the schedule of debates in the congressional, US Senate, and gubernatorial races. (Oct. 20-23)Click here to hear all eight of our Rudman Center Conversations with the Candidates.Click here to hear our All Things Considered conversations with primary candidates in races for U.S. House, U.S. Senate and Governor.Primary 2014 Results:State-Level Results | Town-Level ResultsMeet the CandidatesGovernor: Maggie Hassan* | Walt HavensteinU.S. Senate: Scott Brown | Jeanne Shaheen*U.S. House, 1st District: Frank Guinta | Carol Shea-Porter*U.S. House, 2nd District: Marilinda Garcia | Ann McLane Kuster*[*Denotes incumbent]NHPR's Election 2014 coverage is sponsored in part by Altus Investment Group, Bergeron Technical Services, Goff Wilson, and Rath Young Pignatelli.

Candidates Get Boost From PACs: Charting Primary Spending In House Races

Sara Plourde
/
NHPR

Five days before the primary, more than $3.1 million has been spent on behalf of Republican candidates seeking to advance to the general election against New Hampshire’s Congressional incumbents.

In District 2, a seat held by Democratic Rep. Anne Kuster, Gary Lambert has outspent state Rep. Marilinda Garcia by a slight margin, $277,000 to $239,860, according to the most recent filings with the Federal Election Commission.

But, thanks to a conservative political action committee, Garcia enjoys a considerable advantage on the airwaves. The Club for Growth has dropped more than $480,000 on a television ad calling Lambert “laughably liberal.” For his part, Lambert has spent about $110,000 on ads that attack Garcia for her positions on immigration and health care.

Whoever wins the primary will enter the general at a serious cash disadvantage: Kuster has $1.6 million on hand, compared to Lambert with $211,000 and Garcia with $118,000.

In District 1, also held by a Democrat, Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, former District 1 congressman Frank Guinta has outspent Dan Innis, the former dean of the Whittemore School of Business and Economics at the University of New Hampshire, $340,000 to $272,000.

But Innis has received about $832,000 in backing from two PACS, American Unity and New Hampshire Priorities, both of which have bankrolled television ads supporting Innis.

Shea-Porter will enter the general election with $654,000 cash on hand. On their most recent FEC filings, Innis reported having $67,000 on hand and Guinta had $188,000.

Two candidates, Brendan Kelly in District 1 and former state representative Jim Lawrence in District 2, have not reported their receipts and expenditures with the Federal Election Commission.

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