Rep. Tom Reed (R-Corning)
Congressman Tom Reed (R-Corning, NY 23)says his main priority is to represent the people of his congressional district. That despite the fact the majority of his campaign finances come from Political Action Committees – many of which operate outside of New York State.
A recent report from the Federal Election Commission found that 57 percent of the money Reed’s campaign has raised comes from PACs and only 39 percent comes from individuals – and nearly half that amount came from out of state.
Of that PAC money, Reed’s campaign received its largest contributions from the Insurance industry, Securities and Investment industry, and Oil and Gas industry. In addition, 45 percent of contributions from individuals to the Reed campaign came from out of state.
Reed says that regardless of where his campaign money comes from, he’s remained committed to representing the people of his district, and he’s proven that by holding numerous meetings throughout the district during his time in office.
“I hope that demonstrates what I believe to be the number one thing, and that is to listen to the concerns of all 700,000-plus people in the district and make ourselves accessible and committed to making sure that their needs are known and brought to Washington DC, as well as bringing their ideas,” he recently explained to WRFA when questioned about his campaign finance sources.
From Jan. 1, 2013 through March 31, 2014 – Reed’s campaign has raised a total of $764,265 from individuals and over $1,050,000 in committee contributions.
In contrast to the source of Reeds campaign funding, Democratic challenger Martha Robertson received 98 percent of her campaign dollars from individuals (only 2 percent from PAC’s), and 94 percent of those individuals live in New York State.
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