You Can Take It With You

Wherever Rep. Tom Reynolds goes after retiring from his House seat, he'll be taking $1.8 million in clout with him. The New York Republican has stockpiled that amount in his campaign and leadership PACs, The Buffalo News reports, and he raised funds up until the final week of his announced retirement.

Leaving with active campaign accounts is far from uncommon, but as the News notes, his PACs include an "extraordinary amount of money."

A spokesman for Reynolds says the money will go to ideologically sympathetic Republicans. But the News speculates it might be used for other purposes: "Some former members of Congress have used their campaign kitties to further new Washington careers as lobbyists," the article observes.