Self-funded Candidates Face Tough Odds in Election 2010

[Joanne98]

You're a multi-millionaire. You run for Congress. And you're personally paying for your campaign.

Good luck with that: Of the 58 self-funding candidates this election cycle that've run for the U.S. House or U.S. Senate, more than half are already out of contention, and many more find themselves in political peril ahead of Election Day on Tuesday, a Center for Responsive Politics analysis finds.

Such a statistic is a clear indication that while large sums of campaign money often predicts victory, where the money comes from matters, too.

Take the case of Jeff Greene. Never heard of him? If you're not from Florida, don't feel too bad. Although the billionaire businessman fueled his U.S. Senate campaign in Florida with nearly $24 million of his own cash, Rep. Kendrick Meek obliterated him in a Democratic primary and himself advanced to the general election against former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio and Gov. Charlie Crist, a Republican-turned-independent.

http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2010/10/self-funded-candidates-face-tough-o.html

[Alexander]

1. Ned Lamont also fell in the CT Democratic gubernatorial primary.

I sensed this might happen when Bloomberg won re-election as mayor of NYC last year by a very slim margin, despite sinking millions of his own money into the race.