By Emily Cadei, CQ Staff

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John D. Dingell has been in Congress for 53 years, but he waited until last week to organize his first political action committee to help bolster his fundraising reach.

The Michigan Democrat, the longest-serving sitting member of the House, filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission on June 10 announcing the creation of his Wolverine PAC. His office confirmed that the PAC is the first fundraising apparatus the congressman has established outside his own campaign committee to solicit and spend contributions.

The goal of the new PAC, said Dingell Chief of Staff Michael Robbins “is to help Democrats retain the majority and expand the majority in November and beyond.”

The Wolverine PAC will enable Dingell to raise additional funds — up to $5,000 from a single individual, party or other committee per election — on top of what he raises for his campaign committee. And given the clout Dingell wields as a major committee chairman, he shouldn’t have any trouble reeling in donations to both his old and new fundraising operations. Dingell has raised $1.7 million for his campaign committee so far this election cycle — $1.2 million of it from corporate, trade association and other PACs — despite facing only a nominal election challenge.

By tapping into his extensive network of supporters and those hoping to get into his good graces, the chairman could marshal substantial resources for a host of Democratic House candidates who can help build the party’s majority in the chamber.

PACs, once the domain of House and Senate leadership members, have become widespread among rank-and-file members of Congress over the past decade. Lawmakers now use them to expand their own political operations and their influence among colleagues, and to help the party’s candidates in contested races.

“They have become supplemental office accounts for many members,” observed Michael Malbin, executive director of the Campaign Finance Institute, which conducts research on political fundraising.

Of the 21 House committee chairman, 12 have established PACs. On the Republican side, meanwhile, the number is greater — 19 out of the 21 ranking committee members have PACs.

Dingell isn’t the only committee chairman who has recently discovered the benefits of setting up a PAC during this election cycle. Another long-serving House member, Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman James L. Oberstar , D-Minn., created the Mesabi Fund PAC last fall.

Malbin said the desire to remain in the majority is a huge motivating factor behind the new PACs as Democrats scramble to raise as much money as possible for the 2008 contests. For most of the old-timers, Malbin noted, what happened in 1994 is not yet a distant memory.

“There’s no doubt that senior members like Dingell, (Judiciary Chairman John Conyers Jr. of Michigan) and (House Ways and Means Chairman Charles B. of New York) all very much felt the difference between being chair and being ranking member” after control of the House flipped to the Republicans in 1994.