Republicans are winning the outside money chase as midterm elections approach, providing an extra boost over Democrats as the GOP seeks to recapture both chambers of Congress.
In the battle for the House, the super PAC and political nonprofit group aligned with Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California, the Congressional Leadership Fund and the American Action Network, respectively, raised a combined $110 million in 2021. The Congressional Leadership Fund, which can raise unlimited amounts of money, entered 2022 with a $61.2 million war chest.
Democratic counterparts House Majority PAC and House Majority Forward — the super PAC and political nonprofit group, respectively, aligned with Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California — raised only a combined $55 million last year. House Majority PAC, which, like its GOP counterpart, can raise unlimited amounts of money, entered 2022 with just $39.1 million in cash on hand.
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The figures were filed with the Federal Election Commission on Monday, the deadline for year-end reports.
In the Senate, Republicans also staked for themselves a lead in resources available to invest in the midterm elections.
The Senate Leadership Fund, the super PAC aligned with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, hauled in $42.8 million in 2021 and entered the election year with $47.4 million in the bank to spend on Senate races. Senate Majority PAC, the super PAC aligned with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, raised just $36.2 million in the off-year, to enter 2022 with a $30.1 million war chest.
These numbers do not include fundraising, and banked cash, on the part of the McConnell- and Schumer-aligned nonprofit groups.
House Republicans are a handful of seats shy of the majority, while Senate Republicans need to flip just one seat, net, to gain control of their chamber in 2023 and 2024.
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The party’s robust super PAC fundraising, fueled mostly by wealthy Republican donors, reveals enthusiasm and optimism on the part of the GOP’s financial backers, a sentiment that was clearly missing at this point last year, after former President Donald Trump lost his reelection bid and Democrats flipped the Senate after winning two runoff contests in Georgia.
