Comparing Contributions to U. S. House Members from outside Their Districts

This study investigates to what extent incumbent members of the House of Representatives depend on campaign contributions from outside their districts. It reports that more than half of the individual contributions over 100 originate outside the representative's district and that 98% of PAC contributions to candidates originate outside the district. A significant proportion of this out-of-district money, however, is from contributors within the state. Finally, the election cycles between 1977 and 1982 show a trend toward higher proportions of out-of-district and out-of-state contributions, a trend that is likely to continue into the future. A measure of member power over legislation is proposed and entered into regressions with member voting records to establish that liberals and representatives with influence over legislation receive the highest proportions of out-ofdistricts and out-of-state money, even when the analysis controls for party membership.