With less than two weeks until Election Day and Republicans at great risk of losing their Senate majority, GOP outside donors have stepped up their 11th-hour fundraising efforts to fight the wave of money that Democrats have garnered through small-dollar donations.
According to a report by Politico, the GOP’s top super PAC, the Senate Leadership Fund, raised $49.6 million in the first two weeks of October, bringing in a total of $280 million for the entirety of 2020.
The group, run by allies of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, spent more than $94 million of their funds to propel a media blitz of TV ads this month, trying to reach voters ready to go to the polls in the coming days. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, however, millions of voters have already cast their ballots either through an early vote or by mail, which is expected to reach record-high levels during this unconventional election year.
But Republicans are trying to do whatever they can to prevent a complete Democratic takeover of the executive and legislative branch. With Democratic nominee Joe Biden continuing to lead in national and swing-state polls, President Trump remains vulnerable to win a second term in the White House. Election forecasters are also confident in their predictions that Democrats are expected to not only potentially take control of the Senate, but pick up even more House seats.
Currently, Republicans hold 53 seats, and Democrats have 45 seats. There are also two independents who caucus with the Democrats.
Most of the recent GOP fundraising has come from unknown sources or entirely from big donors. One Nation, which is closely aligned with the SLF, put in $27.5 million, while another $16 million came from six people or groups giving the party seven-figure checks. As of Oct. 14, SLF had $69 million in the bank.
But that number still doesn’t match up Democrats’ financial advantage in some of the most competitive races in the country. In 14 races, Democratic candidates raised more than $84 million in the first two weeks of October, which is more than double the $41 million raised by Republican senators and challengers alike. Democratic campaigns spent $128 million within that time frame, while Republicans spent $69 million.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee still has $31.8 million in the bank to get them through to Nov. 3, compared to $18.3 million for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. But of the $31.8 million that Democrats have, $20 million were from a loan taken out to help finance them through the home stretch.
Notable races showed Sen. Lindsey Graham’s challenger, Jaime Harrison, raising a whopping $109 million in total fundraising across the campaign cycle, making the South Carolina Democrat’s campaign the only one in the country to top nine figures.
In Maine, Sen. Susan Collins’s challenger, Sara Gideon, also outshined the longtime Republican who once could garner support from both sides of the aisle. Gideon brought in $5.9 million in the two-week period of this month, far more than the $1.8 million pulled by Collins. Overall, Gideon brought in $69.5 million for the duration of the whole cycle.
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rate both races as a “toss up,” showing the real challenge that Republicans have to hold on to their control of Congress’s upper chamber, just four years after victoriously taking total control of both chambers and the White House in 2016.
Republicans, particularly McConnell, have been pushing out messages that total Democratic control of the government would completely alter the United States within just a couple of years in the hopes of painting a dire picture for voters.
“They need to be stopped,” McConnell said in September. “The Senate is the firewall against that sort of thing. That’s what is at stake for the American people if they choose to go in the other direction and give the Democrats the entire government.”
