The committee tasked with electing Republican senators amid the impeachment battle will report raising $47.7 million so far this year, an amount that is already greater than ever raised before in the year prior to an election year.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee is crucial to protecting vulnerable incumbents like Susan Collins of Maine, Cory Gardner of Colorado, and Martha McSally of Arizona. In the three-month period ending Sept. 30, the NRSC raised roughly $13.1 million, including approximately $5 million in September — and made the last payment on a $17 million debt left over from the midterm elections.
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The NRSC shared these figures with the Washington Examiner on Tuesday, ahead of its upcoming Federal Election Commission filing.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is trying maintain Republican control of the Senate. Currently there are 53 GOP senators in the conference.
For Senate Republicans, the electoral map is mixed. They expect to take back the Alabama Senate seat they lost in a special election in 2017 and are hopeful they might pull off upsets against Democratic incumbents in Michigan and New Hampshire. But Democrats are on offense in Arizona, Colorado, and Maine, and are optimistic about challenging Republicans in Iowa and possibly Kansas.
Historically, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has outraised the NRSC. That has not necessarily been the case so far this cycle, although the DSCC had yet to reveal third quarter fundraising totals. Through Aug. 31, the DSCC raised $38 million, pocketing $16.2 million but reporting a whopping $13.9 million in outstanding debt from 2018 that it had yet to pay off.
The NRSC’s cash position, more than $13 million on hand at the end of September, is bolstered by Senate Leadership Fund, McConnell’s affiliated super PAC, and the group’s associated political nonprofit, One Nation. Through June 30, SLF and One Nation reported raising a combined $20.5 million, swelling their war chests to $27.5 million.
