The AP found that $252,750, or 76 percent, of the $330,810 Neal has raised this year came from PACs.
U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal speaks at a press conference in the U.S. District Courthouse in Springfield.An Associated Press review of campaign finance disclosures released over the weekend found that more than three quarters of the money raised this year by Rep. Richard Neal, D-Springfield, came from political action committees, or PACs.
The AP found that $252,750, or 76 percent, of the $330,810 Neal has raised this year came from PACs, more than any of the other members of Massachusetts' House delegation.
Neal's office said PAC contributions do not affect his votes in Congress.
"The congressman welcomes the support of individuals and PAC’s, but he votes in the best interest of the people he represents," spokesman William Tranghese told the AP.
Neal's colleagues Edward Markey, William Keating and Stephen Lynch also received more money from PACs than individual donors.
The AP found that Rep. John Olver, D-Amherst, has raised $262,668 this year, with 45 percent of it from PACs.
Prior to 2010, Neal had run unopposed or with little opposition for several election cycles, spending significantly less than $1 million per election. In 2010, however, he faced a challenge from Republican Tom Wesley and ramped up campaign spending. According to data from the Center for Responsive Politics, Neal's 2010 campaign more than tripled the amount spent in the 2008 election, spending 16 times as much as Wesley, at $2,304,756 to Wesley's $143,835.
Neal defeated Wesley 59 percent to 41 percent.
Regardless of whether he faces another Republican or third-party challenger in 2012, Neal may be gearing up for the results of Massachusetts' congressional redistricting efforts. The Commonwealth is losing one of its 10 Congressional seats, and one of the many possible outcomes would pit Neal and Olver against one another in a consolidated Western Mass. district.
Neal's campaign currently has $2,326,140, slightly more than he spent overall in 2010, on hand. Olver has $240,664.
Read more about campaign disclosures at OpenSecrets.org.