Democrats, fired up at the possibility of defeating two of the most prominent Republican senators, poured nearly $200 million into campaigns that failed rather than directing that money to other close races.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, won reelection over Democratic operative Jaime Harrison on Tuesday night, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell staved off a challenge from Democratic Marine pilot Amy McGrath.
Harrison, a longtime Democratic operative, raised a record-breaking $57 million in the third quarter of 2020, allowing him to flood the airwaves and tighten polls to give Graham the toughest race of his political career.
As of Oct. 14, Harrison had raised $108 million and spent $94 million on his campaign.
McGrath raised more than $88 million during her campaign and had spent nearly $74 million as of Oct. 14.
As of 11 p.m. ET, she was 20% behind McConnell, with about 95% of estimated votes counted, according to Decision Desk HQ.
Those massive figures don’t include money spent by outside groups in support of the Democratic candidates.
In terms of money raised for all the candidates in respective races, the South Carolina Senate race was the most expensive Senate race of the cycle, and the Kentucky Senate race was the third-most expensive, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
