Capitol Hill

The midterm election in November 2006 saw Democrats gain six seats in the U.S. Senate and at least 30 in the House of Representatives. Two independent members of the Senate, Bernard Sanders from Vermont and Joe Lieberman from Connecticut, caucus with Demo­crats, giving them a 51-49 majority. And with several House races still undergoing recounts, it appears Democrats now have a 232-seat majority to the Republicans' 203.

ROOFPAC is NRCA's federally registered political action committee (PAC), and, similar to other construction association PACs, has leaned toward supporting Republicans since its inception in 1990. This has been driven by NRCA's issue orientation coupled with ROOFPAC's candidate criteria. NRCA leaders review the following criteria before contributing funds to Senate or House candidates: voting record, electability, campaign team, positions on NRCA issues and leadership potential.

With Democrats taking control of Congress, one might expect ROOFPAC fared poorly for the two-year election cycle. In fact, 73 percent of ROOFPAC-supported candidates for 2006 won, receiving 58 percent of funds dispersed to those candidates. Percentages are based on a total of 80 candidates who received $157,500. You can see the list of ROOFPAC winners in "What lies ahead?" page 24.

ROOFPAC's list of 80 candidates for 2006 was bipartisan, with contributions made to Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) and Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.), among others; however, most of the 80 candidates were Republican. Candidate selection was quite difficult because of the turbulent political atmosphere and immigration issue, which confounded typical giving patterns. This resulted in a strategic decision not to spend all the funds ROOFPAC raised for the cycle.

ROOFPAC's bottom line

In the aggregate, ROOFPAC gave $190,500 to 97 candidates and committees during the 2006 cycle, but not all recipients were on the ballot. Some were committees such as the Republican National Committee or Senate and House member leadership PACs; others were Republican senators not up for re-election until 2008 who were champions for comprehensive immigration reform in the previous Congress.

ROOFPAC raised $325,000 during the 2006 cycle and heads into the 2008 cycle with $135,000. When combined with anticipated donations from NRCA members, this "down payment" will enable ROOFPAC to spend at least $500,000 during this election cycle—in which control of the White House and Congress are at stake.

Raising and spending more than $500,000 is in line with the business plan for ROOFPAC produced by NRCA's PAC Advisory Committee and ratified by NRCA's leaders. They know how important the 2008 election will be for NRCA members and that ROOFPAC must be able to exert maximum leverage on behalf of the roofing industry.

Political preview

According to The Washington Post, "Rarely has an election result been delivered with so much force and clarity and still left so many unanswered questions in its wake, as that of the 2006 midterm campaign…making the 2008 election, which already has begun, potentially the most important in a generation or more in shaping the nation's politics."

At the top of the list for ROOFPAC is the presidential race. It is crucial the White House and its executive branch of government continue to advocate pro-business legislation and regulatory policies. Also, it will be important to add more pro-business members to the Senate where in 2008 Republicans must defend 21 of the 33 seats up for election. And for 2008, Republicans must add roughly 15 seats to regain majority control.

Staying on track

ROOFPAC had a surprisingly strong performance for the 2006 election and financially is on track to have its highest level of activity ever in the 2008 election cycle. This comes not a moment too soon for NRCA given the races for the White House, Senate and House have enormous implications for the economic viability of the roofing industry.

Craig S. Brightup is NRCA's vice president of government relations.