With partisan control of Congress uncertain as the midterm election approaches, CUNA announced Monday that it and state credit union leagues intend to spend $7 million supporting candidates—the most its has ever spent in a single election.
In 2016, CUNA and its political action committee, CULAC, spent almost $2.4 million on the election, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. During the last mid-term election in 2014, CUNA spent almost $2.5 million.
NAFCU operates a much smaller political action committee. By the end of August, NAFCU had spent $166,000 on candidates. In 2016, it spent $223,500.
Recommended For You
CUNA officials also announced the first seven candidates it is backing through targeted media.
"While other industries contributions typically have a political agenda, credit unions' efforts are focused around helping those who support the cooperative movement and make significant contributions to their community," CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle said. "By engaging in sophisticated and targeted political work, credit unions and their 110 million members see a powerful impact."
CUNA said it will support the candidates through direct voter contact, direct mail and targeted digital media.
"Each one of these races, obviously, is a closer and tight one," said Trey Hawkins, CUNA's deputy chief advocacy officer for political action.
The candidates that CUNA and state leagues have said they will support are:
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.)
President Trump carried Missouri by a wide margin in 2016. McCaskill, who is seeking a third term, is being challenged by Missouri's Republican attorney general, Josh Hawley.
The race is considered to be a toss-up, with polls in recent months showing that neither candidate has a lead of more than three percentage points
McCaskill is considered a moderate Democrats and as a member of the Senate Banking Committee, she was a cosponsor of the bipartisan regulatory overhaul legislation that eventually became during this Congress. Credit union groups supported that legislation.
Rep. Bruce Poliquin (R-Maine)
A member of the House Financial Services Committee, Poliquin is being challenged by Jared Golden, a member of the Maine House of Representatives. While Golden is a Democrat, he served on the staff of Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and is a former Marine.
Poliquin is a supporter of Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling's (R-Texas) huge overhaul of the Dodd-Frank Act, known as the Financial CHOICE Act.
He was an outspoken opponent of former CFPB Director Richard Cordray, with Cordray, at one point, accusing him of character assassination.
Rep. John Culberson (R-Texas)
The New York Times has been conducting polls in key House races and reported that Culberson had a three-percentage point lead over attorney Lizzie Pannill Fletcher, with 7% undecided. The poll was conducted from Sept. 14 to Sept. 18 and had a margin of error of three percentage points.
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton carried the Houston-based district in 2016, although traditionally, it has been considered to be a Republican district.
Culberson is a member of the House Appropriations Committee, a position that was considered a key role in obtaining federal funding for hurricane-recovery efforts.
Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.)
Roskam chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee's tax policy subcommittee. That subcommittee is a key panel in any fight over the credit union tax exemption.
Roskam has been an avid supporter of Trump's proposals even though Clinton handily carried the district, located in the western suburbs of Chicago.
The New York Times also polled in Roskam's district and reported that based on 512 reponses, the Republican had a 45% to 44% lead over Sean Casten, a clean-energy entrepreneur. Some 11% of the respondents said they were undecided. The poll conducted Sept. 4 to Sept 6, had a margin of error of 4.7 percentage points.
Rep. Mike Bost (R-Ill.)
Bost, a former firefighter and state representatives, was first elected in 2014; his opponent this year is Brendan Kelly, a state's attorney for St. Clair County.
Trump carried the district in 2016, but favorite son Barack Obama carried it in both of his presidential campaign.
National Democrats have identified this district as a possible pick-up for the party's effort to regain control of the House.
Kelly has been running advertising saying that if he is elected he will vote against Nancy Pelosi as leader of the Democratic Party in the House.
Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.)
Davis is chairman of the Republican Main Street Congressional Caucus, a group of moderate House Republicans. The caucus has said it seeks pragmatic solutions to issues facing the country and has said "there is no honor in ideological purity at the expense of results."
He is a previous congressional staffer, having served as projects director for 16 years for Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.).
Davis's opponent is Democrat Betsy Londrigan, a former staff for Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and co-founder of Women Rising, a group that works to elect women to public office.
Rep. Randy Hultgren (R-Ill.)
Hultgren is a staunch Trump supporter and has been described as a leader of the Tea Party Movement.
As a member of the Financial Services Committee, Hultgren has been an outspoken opponent of Dodd-Frank and supported Hensarling's Financial Choice Act. He is a supporter of simplified reporting requirements for community financial institutions.
Hultgren's opponent is Lauren Underwood, a registered nurse who served as a senior advisor in the Department of Health and Human Services during the Obama Administration.
At 32, she is the youngest African American woman running for Congress this year.
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
