Outside Groups Outspend Candidates in 26 House Races
llinois' 17th Congressional District looks like it was drawn by an X-acto knife on crack, pitted with divots large and small and tendrils leading nowhere.
This misshapen plot of land, dubbed the "rabbit on a skateboard," is the result of a redistricting process that made it slightly more Democratic territory.
That means first-term Rep. Bobby Schilling, a Republican, doesn't exactly have a smooth glide-path to re-election. In fact, he’s in a fight -- an expensive one. Through Oct. 17, Schilling and his Democratic opponent, Cheri Bustos, together have spent $3.3 million on the race ($1.9 by Schilling, $1.4 million by Bustos).
But that's not the half of it. Another $6 million has been spent by outside groups, a cool $2.7 million more than the candidates themselves have laid out.
That makes the contest one of 26 House elections in which outside spending adds up to more than spending by the candidates, according to Center for Responsive Politics data.
http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2012/10/outside-groups-outspend-candidates-1.html