The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee raised $11.5 million last month, more than it has ever raised in the February of a midterm election cycle, as House Democrats labor to defend their vulnerable majority.
The House Democratic campaign arm is boasting an average donation of $16 in February. That suggests grassroots liberals remain engaged despite President Biden’s defeat of former President Donald Trump in 2020 and the full Democratic takeover of Washington that was cemented with victories in a pair of January Senate runoff elections in Georgia.
“Americans are sending a clear message that they’re ready to hold congressional Republicans accountable for voting against much-needed economic recovery and vaccine funding so we can crush this pandemic and get our lives back to normal,” New York Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, the DCCC chairman, said in a statement, referring to the unanimous GOP opposition to Biden’s $1.9 trillion spending package, dubbed the American Rescue Plan.
House Republicans are just a handful of seats shy of the majority, and the party that holds the White House typically loses seats in midterm elections. So this sort of strong participation in the political process by the Democratic Party’s liberal base could be a significant development. At the very least, House Democrats need their support if they are to have any chance to defy history and remain in power after the 2022 elections.
The DCCC’s February fundraising disclosure was not yet available on the Federal Election Commission website. But the Hill reported that the committee closed February with $26 million in the bank and $11 million in debt left over from the last cycle. The National Republican Congressional Committee had not yet publicized its February fundraising results.
