Now in his eleventh term as congressman, Oxley is also the head of the Committee on Financial Services. According to the government ran webpage of financial services, it states that “the Committee oversees the entire financial services industry, including the securities, insurance, banking, and housing industries. The Committee also oversees the work of the Federal Reserve, the Treasury, the SEC, and other financial services regulators.” Committees are very important to the decision process behind policymaking. “Most of the real work of Congress goes on in committees, and committees dominate congressional policymaking in all its stages” (Government in America).
In the 2002 election, Michael Oxley was running against democratic candidate Jim Clark. In the fourth district of Ohio election, Oxley received 19468 votes, while his opponent received only 9739 votes. This gave Oxley a victory of 67% over Clarks 33% (CBSNEWS). The margin of this election wasn’t fairly large. Incumbent’s that run in an election are always more likely to win. An election victory usually shows how “safe” a candidate is, especially in Michael Oxley’s case. Looking at Oxley’s past in congress, I believe him to be a “safe” congressman. According to Thomas Mann members of congress perceive themselves as “Unsafe at any margin” (Government in America). Even though in the past (and present) incumbents usually do to well in elections against runners who have no congressional history. Oxley who has had congressional record won with a large percentage.
Campaigns are expensive especially when the election is more important. A congressman election is more important then a school board election, and with importance behind an election money comes first. Government in America notes that “money is the mother’s milk of politics”. The amount of money you raise through Contributions from political action committees (PAC’s), independent contributions, self-financing, and other forms of income all make a difference in an election. Congressman Oxley raised $1,256,864 through numerous types of contributions. Oxley then spent $1,140,989 on his election promotion (Opensecrets.org). After searching through Opensecrets.org and reading through pages of his expenditures, it came to my attention that even though at first it seemed he was spending money frivolously, that he in fact was spending money on advertising, fundraising and consultations with other political heads. An example of how large a role money can play in an election, would be too look at Oxley’s opponent. While Oxley raised $1,256,864, his opponent Jim Clark only raised $10,551.
Money has obviously been a large factor in the election process, yet where it comes from also plays a significant part. Large contributors are political Action Committees. Candidates need PAC’s because high-tech campaigning is expensive. Tightly contested races for the House of Representatives can sometimes cost $1 millions dollars (Government in America). The majority of contributions in Oxley’s race came from PAC’s. Sixty nine percent of the money raised for Oxley’s campaign came from PAC’s, while twenty nine came from individual contributions.
Michael Oxley Jim Clark
With the money raised by each candidate, I believe that Jim Clark was not a “Quality challenger”. This is because he was running against an incumbent who “Not only do more than 90% of the incumbents seeking reelection win, but most of them win with more than 60 percent of the vote” (Government in America). I am not surprised that Jim Clark lost to Michael Oxley. Michael Oxley has been in congress for years, which shows the public that he has experience. He is also very loyal to his voters. He has expressed himself to be very conservative, and this shows by the low percentage of the liberal quotient. Oxley had a zero percentage, which is tact with the rest of the republicans. The only congressman too have a higher percentage, where the ones representing the Democratic Party.