With the exception of the 2nd Congressional District in Dane County, where Democrat Tammy Baldwin faces a vigorous challenge from Republican John Sharpless, House contests appear rather dreary, with incumbents holding a distinct edge. When a person is a challenger, it's incredibly intimidating to see those sorts of bank balances.
Incumbents have enormous leverage to raise money.
Baldwin said she has tried to focus on individual contributions, as opposed to political action committee money. She said candidates need the money to help offset not only challengers, but also independent expenditures from outside groups. Sharpless has criticized her for accepting the majority of her money from out of state. What I do is fund my campaign with a majority of individual contributions of modest size. It's hard, and I think we absolutely have to change the system.