Trump’s exit has not diminished enthusiasm of Democratic donors

Donald Trump is no longer president, but the Democratic money machine he fueled is still burning strong, with incumbent Senate Democrats posting strong first-quarter fundraising numbers to begin the 2022 cycle.

Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock raised more than $5.7 million in the first three months of the year and closed the period with a war chest of nearly $5.6 million. Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly collected $4.4 million and entered April with nearly that amount in cash on hand. New Hampshire Sen. Maggie Hassan, perhaps the most vulnerable incumbent Democrat, raked in $3 million, reporting more than $4.3 million to spend on her reelection.

Bolstering these figures, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer raised a whopping $8.3 million in January, February, and March, finishing with $17.7 million in the bank.

The Democrats are going to need every penny, as long as the New Yorker does not have to use the cash to fend off a challenger in the Democratic primary, such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Historically, the party in power loses seats in Congress in midterm elections, and the Democrats are defending their control of a 50-50 Senate that rests on Vice President Kamala Harris’s tiebreaking vote.

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“These impressive fundraising numbers are yet another indication that our strong incumbents are running aggressive operations across the map and are fully prepared to defend our majority,” Shea Necheles, spokeswoman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said in a statement.

Included in the list of “impressive” first-quarter fundraisers circulated by the DSCC was Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto. The Nevada Democrat raised $2.3 million, growing her campaign bank account to just under $4.7 million. Boasting strong grassroots support, Cortez Masto accumulated more than 21,000 donors, 96% of whom contributed $100 or less to her reelection bid.

Throughout Trump’s White House tenure, Democratic fundraising was supercharged as grassroots liberals contributed billions of dollars to congressional candidates in an effort to place a check on the 45th president’s power.

For instance, in one 24-hour period last fall following the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, the online fundraising platform ActBlue collected nearly $100 million for Democratic candidates and causes. Overall, during the two-year 2020 election cycle, the donation portal processed $4.8 billion as voters opposed to Trump and his Republican allies shelled out cash to elect President Joe Biden and Democrats in Congress.

With Trump out of office and the Democrats in control of Congress and the White House, a fundraising drop-off would have been understandable. Instead, Democrats have continued to haul in cash at a robust clip and do not appear to be suffering an enthusiasm letdown since Biden ousted Trump.

Republicans, meanwhile, continue to sort through competitive primaries in key states in the early going of the 2022 campaign. That includes in the handful of targeted open seats the GOP is defending and the Democratic seats they hope to flip to climb back into the majority. The party is not concerned about the Democrats’ financial advantage, at least not at the moment.

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But as an insurance policy, the National Republican Senatorial Committee is spending money early, hoping either to define Democratic incumbents on GOP terms or to force them to draw down their war chests to defend themselves. Democrats are not expressing any concern, pointing to four seats where the Republican incumbent is going to have to play catch-up financially.

In Florida, Sen. Marco Rubio raised $1.6 million and finished the first quarter with under $4 million in the bank. In Wisconsin, Sen. Ron Johnson, who is contemplating retirement, collected just $545,000 and entered April with $1 million on hand, although he could afford to self-fund his reelection at least partially. In Iowa, Sen. Chuck Grassley, also mulling retirement, raised a paltry $256,000.

And in Alaska, Sen. Lisa Murkowski raised just $380,000. She is under fire from Trump over her vote to convict him at trial in the Senate on an article of impeachment alleging he incited the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

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