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CAMPAIGN 2008: Energy interests fuel Md. Democrat's battle against primary challenger (02/07/2008)
Alex Kaplun, E&E Daily reporter
Electric utilities are helping Maryland Democrat Al Wynn defend his House seat against a tough primary challenger by pouring tens of thousands of dollars into his campaign coffers.
Wynn, a senior member of the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee and the chairman of its Environment and Hazardous Material Subcommittee, is facing activist Donna Edwards in the Feb. 12 primary. Edwards lost to Wynn by 3 percentage points in the 2006 primary, but her supporters argued that she is better known and better funded in her new bid to topple the eight-term lawmaker.
The battle has become more heated in recent weeks as advocacy groups joined the fray and helped fill the coffers of both Wynn and his challenger.
While Wynn has received cash from a range of industry groups, the energy sector -- led by major electric utilities -- tops the list of donors, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics.
Wynn has received about $110,000 last year from political action committees created by utilities, natural gas groups, the nuclear industry and labor unions with links to the energy interests, according to Federal Election Commission records that run through the end of 2007.
Electric utilities -- many of which operate outside Maryland -- and their advocacy groups in Washington contributed the bulk of the donations, about $90,000. Many of those contributions -- about $25,000 -- were made toward the end of last year.
Jim Owen, a spokesman for the Edison Electric Institute, said financial support for Wynn stems mostly from his experience dealing with the energy industry and his understanding of its concerns.
"He's shown a lot of familiarity with our issues," Own said. "Really what we're doing is supporting a lawmaker who has shown interest in our issues and is familiar with what we're doing."
Climate legislation
During his tenure on Energy and Commerce, Wynn has earned a reputation as a moderate who has sided with industry on some issues -- including a voting for the Republicans' 2005 energy bill.
The committee is also expected to take up a climate change bill, which is likely to pit energy companies against environmental groups.
Owen said he does not believe the energy industry's support for Wynn is tied to any single piece of legislation but rather Wynn's willingness to listen to industry concerns.
"I don't even think it is appropriate to say [the contributions are] linked to anything as broad as climate change," Owen said.
Owen added: "Wynn has signaled a recognition that we need to get a climate bill right. Is that reflected in what's going on here? Quite probably."
EEI's political action committee has given in $5,000 to the Wynn campaign. Other major donors include Constellation Energy, Exelon, Florida Power & Light Co., Mirant Corporation and Xcel Energy -- all of which have also contributed $5,000.
Wynn's challenger, Edwards, has used those contributions to attack the lawmaker as being too closely allied with special interests.
Her campaign recently aired a television ad showing Wynn entering energy company Entergy's Washington headquarters. "In there right now is our congressman, Al Wynn, taking campaign checks from big corporate special interests, the same special interests he's supposed to be overseeing in Congress," Edwards says in the ad.
Dan Weber, an Edwards campaign spokesman, said Wynn's connections to industry groups have become a major issue for voters in Maryland's 4th District, which includes most of Prince George's County and part of Montgomery County in the Washington suburbs.
"It's a combination of a lot of these corporate special interests that he's getting money from and some of the votes that he made that people are seeing," Weber said. "It is something that resonates."
Wynn campaign director Lori Sherwood countered that the industry donations reflect Wynn's work on many issues and that he's maintained an independent record that often has involved voting against corporate interests.
"The congressman has a broad range of support from a broad range of businesses and groups," Sherwood said. "Time and time again he can point where he's voted against those interests and his donors."
Challenger's spending
Despite the attention that the Edwards campaign is focusing on Wynn's campaign contributions, the challenger and her allies appear poised to surpass the incumbent in overall campaign spending.
FEC records show that Wynn has raised a little more than $1 million for his campaign, compared to about $655,000 for Edwards. But Edwards has also received heavy support from outside interest groups, among them major environmental organizations such as the League of Conservation Voters.
Edwards has held leadership posts for several environmental groups during her career. She has served on the boards of directors of both LCV and the LCV Education Fund and worked on several environmental campaigns in Maryland.
LCV has already spent more than $150,000 on a series of direct mail campaigns, phone calls and canvassing efforts on behalf of the candidate. In the last week alone, other interest groups -- led by labor unions -- have poured another $700,000 into the race for items such as mailings and television commercials.
Wynn supporters point to those contributions as evidence that Edwards is already beholden to certain interest groups, and they argue that her campaign is likewise being funded by corporate donations, although indirectly.
The Wynn campaign late last month filed a complaint with the FEC accusing Edwards of illegally coordinating her campaign efforts with some independent organizations. Their complaint points out that some interest groups have in the past received grants from a nonprofit foundation -- which has investments in major energy corporations -- of which she is the executive director.
"To throw bombs at the congressman is sort of hypocritical when she's taking contributions from the CEOs and board members of these very same companies," Sherwood said.
The FEC is unlikely to take up the complaint before the election.
The Edwards campaign has strongly denied there's illegal collusion between her campaign and various organizations. The candidate also took a leave of absence from her posts at the advocacy group prior to launching her campaign.
Larger clash
The race between Wynn and Edwards has not only become a clash between environmental groups and the energy industry, it's also the most recent clash between the Democratic leadership in Washington and various grassroots advocates.
Liberal bloggers, who are critical of Wynn for siding with Republicans on some key issues, have launched a nationwide Internet-based campaign -- similar to the effort used to upend Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) in the 2006 Democratic primary -- to raise funds for Edwards. Campaign finance records also show that the overwhelming majority of Edwards' contributions from individuals are from people who live outside of Maryland.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders have backed Wynn.
Edwards officials are not shy in openly discussing her association with LCV and other advocacy groups or the backing she has received from outside the state, saying that the support is simply the reflection of a career spent working as an advocate on behalf of environmental and social causes. Indeed, Edwards touts LCV's endorsement in television commercials and campaign appearances.
"Donna has been an environmentalist for all of her career. ... The fact that these same groups are endorsing and supporting her candidacy, she's happy for that support," Weber said. "That's a far cry from what the congressman is doing, which is taking a lot of corporate special interest money."