By Jim Tankersley
Rep. Melissa Bean typically doesn’t need much help raising money – she banked $1 million in the first half of this year for her re-election campaign – but next week she’ll bring a big fundraising gun to town anyway: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
The Oct. 19 event at the Westin Hotel downtown features both women and comes with a three-tiered price tag: $500 for an “individual,” $1,000 for a “friend” or $2,300 – the federal maximum for an individual donation to a single candidate for an election cycle – for a “host.”
It’s the third time Pelosi has lent a financial hand to the three-term suburban congresswoman. Pelosi visited Chicago for Bean once before, and her supporters hosted Bean for a San Francisco fundraiser as well.
Bean is a self-styled “pro-business” Democrat who has compiled one of the more centrist voting records of her caucus. Republicans, though, are trying to paint her as too liberal for her district. They recently criticized campaign contributions she accepted from MoveOn.org (which last donated to Bean in 2004) and they leveled similar criticism today over the Pelosi help.
“Nancy Pelosi’s upcoming visit to Chicago is just the latest chapter in what seems to be a long history of questionable fundraising sources for Melissa Bean,” said Ken Spain, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, adding that Bean “is being rewarded with a high dollar fundraiser for towing the liberal line for the San Francisco Speaker.”
A Bean spokesman said the campaign would not comment on internal fundraising.