Just How Much Campaign Money Comes from Washington, Anyway?

A new report testifies to the generosity of Washington, D.C., and its suburbs—when it comes to members of the U.S. House of Representatives.

MAPLight.org, which analyzes money in politics, has released a report on three years of fundraising by House members. The report breaks down contributions by geographic area, including which ZIP codes gave the most. And in that category—helped, no doubt, by lobbying firms and interest groups—the Washington area was the runaway leader with 15 of the top 20 ZIP codes.

Here's the top 10:
1. Washington, D.C. 20005, with $28.9 million raised
2. Washington, D.C. 20001, with $27.5 million raised
3. Washington, D.C. 20036, with $27.5 million raised
4. Washington, D.C. 20006, with $21.8 million raised
5. Washington, D.C. 20004, with $17.8 million raised
6. Alexandria, Va. 22314, with $12.2 million raised
7. Washington, D.C. 20007 with $5.8 million raised
8. Chicago, Ill. 60611 with $5.3 million raised
9. McLean, Va. 22102 with $5.2 million raised
10. Arlington, Va. 22209 with $5.2 million raised

As one might expect, those ZIP codes that include parts of K Street are near the top of the list. That doesn't make MAPLight.org happy. "We, as citizens, pay House members' salaries, we pay to run elections and we pay for all their spending decisions," executive director Daniel Newman said in a statement. "However, we, as citizens, have handed special-interests the remote control, forcing our potential leaders to grovel before PAC leaders and lobbyists to raise the funds needed to win elections."

Of course, much of the money listed as coming from the Washington area originates elsewhere, from the PAC contributors spread throughout the country who have chosen to pool their resources.

Contributions from Washington, D.C., accounted for 21 percent of all the campaign money raised by House members from January 2005 through December 2007, the report said.