The Democratic opposition is seriously outraising Republicans in the ten most competitive Senate races. Five of the ten races have Democratic incumbents. However, the fundraising spread for competitive races is extraordinary.
After running for and winning the unfinished term of GOP Senator Johnny Isakson, Raphael Warnock became Georgia senator in 2021. He should he be extolling Herschel Walker (Republican candidate, $83 million to $22 million)?
Florida’s Democratic candidate Val Demings has defeated Republican incumbent Marco Rubio by winning $47.3 million to $29.1million
In the highly competitive Arizona Senate race, Mark Kelly, an incumbent Democrat, has raised $53million to Blake Masters’ $4.3 Million.
It doesn’t stop there. Democrat John Fetterman surpasses Republican Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania at $26 million to $4million; Democrat Tim Ryan outpaces Republican J.D. Vance, Ohio, $21.8million to $2.9million; and Democrat Cheri Beesley raised $16million to Republican Ted Budd’s $6.2 million.
It’s not that big donors aren’t giving. Problem is that smaller donors don’t give to candidates as often as they did in the past. Trump’s success in grassroots fundraising — $99 Million this cycle — is a part of it. Trump has not yet shared any of this cash with GOP Senate Candidates and it doesn’t seem like he will.
Blake Masters received $12 million from Peter Thiel as a gift for his primary campaign. Thiel is now gone, Masters is in deep trouble and there is little chance of a Republican picking up the Senate seat.
Kimberley Strassel, Wall Street Journal’s Kimberley Strassel, recalls that Thiel was referred to by the New York Times in February as a “kingmaker”.
Only, where is the would-be Kingmaker now? The doors are locked as he sits in his counting house. He has left the Arizona race and the Ohio Senate candidate J.D., whom he spent $15million to nominate, behind. Vance. Vance. The GOP’s Arizona project is now in jeopardy because the Lucys have pulled the football.
The Senate Leadership Fund, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, is receiving criticism. It recently announced that it would cancel $8 million of Arizona ad reservations. Keep an eye on the Thiel-Trump outfit. There are limited resources, so Mr. McConnell’s super-PAC suddenly finds it having to spend unexpected millions to defend an Ohio seat. This should have been easy but Mr. Vance is still struggling. It is also protecting seats in Wisconsin and North Carolina. One Nation, which is affiliated with the Senate Leadership Fund, spent $13 million in Arizona from Labor Day through October. The fund will also be shown on television in October.
Party fundraising is one area in which Republicans are doing better that Democrats. Individual Democrats may have raised more than Republicans for competitive Senate races but key Republican committees are raising more than their Democratic counterparts.
The RNC raised $216 million more than the DNC, and $170 million more than the DNC. The GOP senatorial election committee has an advantage over its Democratic counterparts by $153 million to $151 millions.
Recent examples show that candidates have been seriously outraised and still managed to win the election. It is not necessary to have more money than the other candidate.
