Even at a time of inflated political-fundraising hauls, the numbers Democrats reported Wednesday stand out.
Many of the Democratic Party’s top candidates reported gargantuan fundraising totals for the first three months of the year — figures that reinforce the party’s growing confidence that it is gaining momentum roughly six months before the midterm election.
The Democrats’ Senate nominee in Texas, James Talarico, led the way by raising $27 million in the year’s first fundraising quarter, a figure that until recently would have been considered a strong return for a major presidential candidate, let alone a congressional contender.
But he wasn’t the only Senate Democratic nominee to post an impressive report to the Federal Election Commission: Roy Cooper, the Democrats’ Senate nominee in North Carolina, raised nearly $14 million, and Mary Peltola, the putative party nominee for Senate in Alaska, raised almost $9 million. Sherrod Brown, the likely nominee in Ohio, raised $12.5 million.
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Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff’s totals might be the most striking: The incumbent raised $14 million last quarter and has $31.7 million on hand, per FEC reports.
Ossoff, Talarico, Cooper, Peltola and Brown had, combined, more than $80 million on hand to start April.
The Democrats’ financial successes last quarter, however, come with a caveat.
At the national level, the party still faces a steep financial disparity against Republicans, when including outside groups like MAGA Inc. and super PACs like the Senate Leadership Fund. And an expected Supreme Court decision this spring could give the GOP another advantage, letting them maximize the political impact of contributions from big donors and the more than $100 million in the Republican National Committee’s own warchest.
Here are other takeaways from the first-quarter fundraising deadline:
House Democrats score, too
Like their Senate counterparts, House Democratic candidates challenging Republican incumbents also reported impressive fundraising figures.
Democratic candidate Rebecca Cooke ($2.4 million) outraised Rep. Derrick Van Orden ($1.3 million) in Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District. Sarah Trone Garriott ($1.7 million) raised more than Republican Rep. Zach Nunn ($1.3 million) in Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District. Janelle Stelson ($2.2 million) collected more than Rep. Scott Perry ($1.1 million). JoAnna Mendoza ($2.4 million) hauled in more than Rep. Juan Ciscomani ($1.1 million).
All four districts are top-tier battlegrounds in this year’s midterm election, the kind of races Democrats might need to win to claim a House majority in 2027.
Republican challengers also had financial success, with Tano Tijerina raising more than Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar in Texas’ battleground 28th Congressional District, $600,000 to $490,000.
In another Texas swing district, Eric Flores raised $1.2 million, edging out Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez’s $1.1 million for the quarter.
House Republicans are counting on gaining seats in Texas after the state’s mid-decade redistricting to help combat a potentially difficult political environment in November and hold on to the party’s slim majority.
Cash-strapped primaries
Democratic Senate candidates aren’t raising as much money in contested primaries, suggesting that many of the party’s small and large donors alike are more interested in trying to defeat Republicans than settle intraparty scores.
In Iowa, for example, state Rep. Josh Turek and state Sen. Zach Wahls each raised an almost identical $1.1 million last fundraising quarter. Rep. Angie Craig raised $2.5 million to Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan’s $1.3 million in Minnesota, while the three Democratic Senate candidates in Michigan raised a collective $7.2 million in the first fundraising quarter (more on that race below).
Even in Maine, leftist firebrand Graham Platner reported raising $4 million, a strong quarter for a newcomer to politics but not the outrageous sum some Democratic candidates with uncontested primaries collected. His opponent in the Democratic primary, Gov. Janet Mills, raised $2.6 million.
Mills had just $1 million on hand to start the month, less than half of Platner’s $2.7 million, amid ongoing concerns about the state of her campaign.
Michigan stays tight
State Sen. Mallory McMorrow posted the most impressive fundraising report in the closely watched three-way Democratic Senate primary in Michigan, although her two competitors trailed closely behind.
McMorrow raised the most cash during the year’s first three months ($3 million) and had the most cash on hand ($3.7 million) of the three competitors. Former gubernatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed raised $2.2 million last quarter and had $2.5 million on hand, while Rep. Haley Stevens raised $2 million and had $3.4 million available to start April.
The race remains very competitive, with polls finding each of the three candidates within striking distance of one another. And like past fundraising quarters in this race, all three candidates continue to spend relatively heavily with the August primary still months away, much of it on costly digital-fundraising efforts.
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