Congressman has more than $400,000 on hand as he begins fundraising efforts for re-election campaign

(Louisville, KY) The inaugural fundraiser for Congressman John Yarmuth’s (KY-3) 2012 re-election campaign raised more than $150,000, surpassing any event the Congressman held in his previous three campaigns.

“I intend to continue tackling Washington dysfunction and getting results for Louisville families,” Congressman Yarmuth said.“This record-breaking start gives us the resources and momentum we need to run another successful race. I am grateful for this support and will fight to bring the American Dream back within the reach of every Louisvillian with the ability and determination to work for it.

The event brings Yarmuth’s total cash on hand to more than $400,000 heading into 2012.

Dear Friends,
 
Thank you.  In the face of an uncertain midterm election, you doubled your efforts on the phones and in neighborhoods, to ensure that our campaign would be victorious again.  As a result, Louisville went to the polls and reaffirmed that the values Democrats not only profess, but work so diligently toward, are the values that make America great.  And you showed the nation that in our community every citizen is a priority, and we won’t let our seniors, veterans and students fall through the cracks in the system.

I’m proud to be your representative and grateful for the opportunity to continue working for your priorities in Congress.  I promise to continue my fight to revitalize our economy and keep Louisville moving forward.

Thank you again for all of your help and support.

 
Sincerely,

Defying a national Republican surge, Louisville’s Democratic Rep. John Yarmuth successfully fended off his tea party-backed challenger, Todd Lally, to capture a third term in the 3rd Congressional District.Despite pre-election polls predicting heightened Republican turnout, Yarmuth, 62, the former publisher of LEO Weekly, won with 55 percent of the vote to Lally’s 44 percent with 99.8 percent of the ballots counted. The Democratic-leaning district covers most of Jefferson County.

“I think it does show that even a Republican wave has limits, and that some of the apocalyptic predictions for Democrats were a little premature,” said Isaac Wood, an analyst for the University of Virginia Center for Politics. “It shows that candidates still matter. If a generic Democrat had been running, you might not have had the same result.”

It was a narrower margin of victory than in 2008, when, buoyed by President Barack Obama’s candidacy, Yarmuth dispatched former Rep. Anne Northup by nearly 18 points.

But in a speech before cheering supporters at the Marriott Louisville Downtown hotel, Yarmuth said he was grateful to the community “for showing your confidence in me. That means more than I can say.”