House Speaker Paul Ryan raised $15.4 million in the third quarter of 2016, lifting his total fundraising haul so far this year to $48.2 million, much of which is being used to help vulnerable House Republicans hang on to their seats.
Ryan, R-Wis., has been Speaker for less than a year and took the job after first warning the GOP that he would not follow in predecessor John Boehner’s footsteps by spending weekends on fundraising trips, and would instead go home to his family in Janesville.
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But even without weekend fundraising, Ryan has managed to break fundraising records this year and to help the GOP keep more cash on hand than House Democrats, who are fighting to pick up many vulnerable Republican seats in November.
Campaign aides said Ryan has also “revolutionized” the House GOP’s online fundraising and has raised over $1.6 million in the third quarter for the House campaign arm, the National Republican Congressional Committee. Ryan’s political team raised an additional $2.7 million through online and email donations.
Ryan has so far this year transferred $31 million to the NRCC. He transferred more than $2 million to House GOP members in the third quarter.
The third quarter haul comes after Ryan made August fundraising trips to a dozen states to help GOP lawmakers in hotly contested races. Last week, Ryan helped raise $550,000 at an even in Pennsylvania for Republican Lloyd Smucker, who is running to fill an open House seat.
Ryan has “cut nearly 200 checks totaling $1 million to federal candidates and state committees,” according to his campaign team, and has made appearances at 80 events that raised an additional $10 million.
Ryan has “provided a clear agenda for the Republican Party,” Ryan’s political team director Kevin Seifert said. “And it has made a big difference for our members and our candidates.”
