House Dem Challengers Are Printing Money

Democratic challengers in several key U.S. House races put up massive fundraising numbers in the second quarter, closing some of the GOP’s cash advantage in battlegrounds across the country.

Seven of the 10 best-fundraising House candidates across competitive districts were Democratic challengers, according to a POLITICO review of filings submitted to the Federal Election Commission late on Wednesday. All seven outraised the GOP incumbents they are facing in the 2nd quarter.

In Iowa’s 3rd District, Democratic state Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott raised $2.2 million during this time period, compared to $968,000 for incumbent GOP Rep. Zach Nunn. In Pennsylvania’s 8th District, Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti raised just over $2 million, while first-term GOP Rep. Rob Bresnahan raised a little more than $1 million. Both Cognetti and Trone Garriott were among the Democratic challengers to vault over GOP incumbents in cash on hand in the second quarter.Overall, nine of the top 10 fundraising candidates in battleground House races were Democrats, and 30 of the top 50, POLITICO’s review found.

The strong candidate fundraising is a sign of strong Democratic momentum as they push to overcome the GOP’s win in the gerrymandering wars to take control of the House in November, seizing on voter concerns over the economy after President Donald Trump’s return to the White House. National polling indicates that Democrats have a strong chance at flipping the House.

Still, many Republicans have plenty of cash, largely because they built up quite a cash advantage early in the cycle, and many of their incumbents in competitive races continued to haul in strong totals. Thirteen vulnerable GOP incumbents raised at least $1 million in the second quarter, while only eight incumbent Democrats in targeted districts raised at least that much.But Democrats running in competitive open seats largely outperformed their Republican counterparts, while few GOP challengers in competitive races gained a cash edge. Seventeen Democrats challenging incumbents or running in competitive open races raised at least $1 million, compared to only four Republicans. And as Democrats posted most of the top fundraising hauls, it was mainly Republicans at the other end of the spectrum. Nine of the 10 lowest fundraising totals in battleground districts were posted by Republican incumbents or challengers.

Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) had the lowest haul of any incumbent battleground member, raising less than $60,000 in the 2nd quarter. Mills — who is facing a House ethics investigation — was outraised by GOP primary challenger Ryan Elijah, who brought in just over $300,000, while Democratic challenger Bale Dalton raised just over $500,000. Florida holds its primary on Aug. 18.

The GOP also has a substantial overall fundraising edge at the committee level likely to be more important this cycle due to a recent Supreme Court decision that loosened campaign finance restrictions.The National Republican Congressional Committee has outpaced the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and had a roughly $9 million cash on hand advantage at the end of May. The Republican National Committee also has a massive advantage over the Democratic National Committee. The RNC has $125 million in the bank, while the Democratic National Committee has more debt than cash on hand, $18.3 million to $14.8 million.

And the GOP has the edge on the super PAC side as well.

Congressional Leadership Fund, the super PAC aligned with Speaker Mike Johnson, has just under $142 million in the bank at the end of June. Meanwhile, House Majority PAC, which is aligned with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, has $66.7 million in its coffers as of May 31.

POLITICO’s analysis of competitive seats included all districts identified as offensive or defensive districts by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee or National Republican Congressional Committee. Those combined lists skew more into Republican territory as Democrats have sought to aggressively target some GOP incumbents in seats that President Donald Trump won by 10 or more points in what they hope will be a blue wave year.