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Bush Leads Kerry in Fund-Raising in Nearly Every State
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. electoral map is colored with a mix of red states that are likely to support President Bush and blue states that are likely to support Sen. John Kerry in the November presidential election. But the map of presidential campaign fundraising is almost all red.Bush raised more money than Kerry in 48 states through March 31, illustrating that Bush's overall fundraising advantage in the presidential race extends to areas throughout the country. The finding was revealed in a study by the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics of individual donors of $200 or more.Bush raised $185.1 million to Kerry's $85.6 million through March 31, the end of the most recent reporting period. During that time, Bush collected more money than Kerry in every state except Massachusetts, which Kerry represents in the U.S. Senate, and Rhode Island. Kerry also raised more than Bush from District of Columbia donors.Not surprisingly, Kerry's most significant fundraising advantage over Bush is in Massachusetts. Donors there gave $6.3 million to the Kerry campaign and $2.8 million to the Bush campaign during the period studied, a ratio of more than 2 to 1. By contrast, Bush enjoys a 13 to 1 fundraising advantage over Kerry in his home state of Texas, having raised $17.5 million to Kerry's $1.3 million.Five states are even more loyal than Texas in their giving to Bush versus Kerry. (States whose residents contributed $200,000 or more to Bush and Kerry combined were considered.) South Carolina donors give Bush a 20 to 1 advantage over Kerry, the largest of any state. Nebraska donors favor Bush with their contributions by a ratio of 17 to 1. The ratio is 16 to 1 in favor of Bush in Arkansas, 15 to 1 in Kentucky and 14 to 1 in Alabama.Bush raised more money in Texas than in any other state through March. California is second on his list with $14.9 million in contributions. Florida, which Bush barely won following the recount controversy in 2000, is third with $13.1 million. Four critical "battleground" states are among the top 10 in contributions to Bush: Florida, Ohio ($6 million) at No. 5, New Jersey ($4.3 million) at No. 9 and Michigan ($3.9 million) at No. 10. Kerry raised more in California -- $13.4 million -- than anywhere else. New York is second with $7.4 million and Massachusetts is third. Two battleground states make Kerry's top 10: Florida ($2.2 million) at No. 4 and New Jersey ($2.2 million) at No. 6. Texas is No. 10 on Kerry's list with $1.3 million.Metro Areas and Zip CodesBush raised more in the Washington, D.C. metro area than in any other metro area. The $7.6 million he raised in the nation's capital far surpassed the $6.2 million he raised in New York City. The Big Apple is home to three companies whose employees have given Bush the most money: Morgan Stanley, which just assumed the No. 1 spot; Merrill Lynch, which was No. 1 until being dropped to No. 2 in March; and PricewaterhouseCoopers.Houston, at No. 4 among metro areas in contributions to Bush, is his highest ranked city in Texas with $4.7 million. Dallas is No. 6 with $4.5 million. Boston, the heart of Kerry's political base, is No. 9 among metro areas to Bush with $2.7 million.The most generous metro area to Kerry is New York City, where he raised $6.4 million. Boston is second with $5.7 million and Los Angeles is third with $4.9 million.Five of the top 10 metro areas for campaign giving to Kerry are in California. In addition to Los Angeles, there is San Francisco ($3.4 million) at No. 5, Oakland ($1.3 million) at No. 7, San Diego ($1.1 million) at No. 8 and San Jose ($1 million) at No. 9.One reason for Kerry's strong financial showing in California is his support from employees of the University of California system. UC professors and staff now rank as Kerry's biggest donors, having knocked the employees of New York law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom out of the No. 1 spot in March.Five metro areas -- Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City and Washington, D.C., are among the top 10 metro areas in giving to both Bush and Kerry.Only one ZIP code is among the top 10 for both Bush and Kerry -- New York City's 10021, which regularly tops the ranking of ZIP codes by giving to all federal candidates and parties combined. Bush raised $1.2 million and Kerry collected $888,000 there over the period studied.Five ZIP codes in New York City (10021, 10023, 10024, 10028 and 10128) are among the most generous to Kerry. So are three ZIP codes in Washington, D.C. (20007, 20008 and 20016), one in Los Angeles (90049) and Beverly Hills, 90210.Two ZIP codes each in Dallas (75205 and 75225) and Houston (77019 and 77024) make Bush's top list for contributions. Two ZIP codes in Greenwich, Conn. (06830 and 06831) also make this list, as do one each in Cincinnati (45243), San Antonio (78209) and St. Louis (63124).Editor's Note: Doug Weber of the Center compiled Research for Responsive Politics.Visit the Center for Responsive Politics at www.crp.org.To access more detailed information on campaign donations, go to http://www.opensecrets.org."