Democratic Senate candidates in key battleground states continue to rake in massive amounts of campaign money as the battle for control of the chamber intensifies, according to new campaign finance reports.
New filings with the Federal Election Commission also show former President Donald Trump’s political operation continuing to pull in millions of dollars from his army of supporters — but at a slower pace — as he plots a potential third bid for the White House.
And reports at the state level show energized donors driving big sums to high-profile gubernatorial races.
Here’s a look at key takeaways from new campaign reports:
Democrats awash in campaign money
In race after race, Democratic Senate contenders are outraising their Republican rivals as they prepare for a difficult fall election season — marked by soaring inflation and public dissatisfaction with President Joe Biden’s performance.
In Pennsylvania — where the race for an open Republican seat could determine which party controls the Senate — Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, the Democratic nominee, raised nearly $11 million during the second quarter, which covered the three months ended June 30 — swamping his Republican rival, celebrity heart surgeon Mehmet Oz.
Oz reported receipts of nearly $5.5 million in the quarter, but that included a total of $3.2 million that he loaned to his campaign before and after the hard-fought May 17 Republican primary he won after a recount.
And Fetterman had nearly $5.5 million remaining in the bank at June 30 to Oz’s $1.1 million, filings late Friday with the FEC show. (Oz’s ability to tap his personal wealth in the months ahead could chip away at Fetterman’s current cash-on-hand advantage, however.)
Even so, Fetterman — largely sidelined from the campaign trail as he recovers from a May stroke — has used his funds to advertise heavily on television and underwrite unorthodox efforts to target his opponent.
In Nevada, Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto in Nevada had a second-quarter haul of $7.5 million compared with Republican challenger Adam Laxalt’s nearly $2.9 million.
In Colorado, two-term Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet started July with a stockpile of more than $8 million — roughly 10 times the cash reserves of businessman Joe O’Dea, who emerged victorious from the Republican primary in late June.
And two of the most endangered Democratic senators on the ballot this year — Georgia’s Raphael Warnock and Arizona’s Mark Kelly — each accelerated already blistering fundraising paces, bringing in $17.2 million and nearly $13.6 million, respectively, in the second quarter.
Warnock started July with more than $22.2 million in cash reserves, more than three times the amount banked by his Republican rival, former NFL star Herschel Walker, the filings show.
In Arizona, meanwhile, Kelly was sitting atop a cash haul of nearly $25 million on June 30, as Republicans vying to take him on in November head to an August 2 primary in the Grand Canyon State.
Surprise surges
Even in states viewed as less competitive this fall, Democrat Senate candidates emerged from the second quarter with the financial edge.
In red-leaning Ohio, for example, Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan raised $9.1 million through the end of June for his Senate bid — more than double the amount he collected in the first three months of the year. He had $3.6 million in remaining cash at the end of June.
J.D. Vance — who won the Buckeye State’s bruising GOP Senate primary in May, aided by super PAC spending and a Trump endorsement — raised a fraction of that amount in the April-to-June window: About $1 million.
And the “Hillbilly Elegy” author ended the quarter with about $629,000 remaining in the bank and even more — nearly $883,000 — in debts.
“Democratic Senate candidates across the battlegrounds are smashing fundraising records — and they’re powered by energized, grassroots supporters who are committed to protecting and expanding our Senate Majority that is fighting to address working families’ most pressing priorities,” Eli Cousin, a spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said in a statement.
Also helping to drive the surge in donations, operatives say: Voter alarm over the US Supreme Court ruling last month that found there was no longer a federal constitutional right to an abortion. A draft version of the opinion had been leaked in early May.
The day the actual ruling was released — June 24 — and the following day marked the top two strongest fundraising days of the election cycle for the DSCC, officials with the Democrats’ Senate campaign arm have said.
For their part, Republicans say the fall election still will turn on pocketbook issues, such as rising inflation.
“Even if Democrats have all the money in the world, they are on the wrong side of the issues,” said Jack Pandol, a spokesman for the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC aligned with Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
“You see voters who are frustrated with high inflation, with crime and with an uncontrolled border,” he added. “All the money in the world is not going to change that dynamic.”
And outside Republican groups — such as the SLF and its nonprofit arm One Nation — will spend heavily to drive that message to voters. SLF ended June with more than $104 million in cash reserves — a record for the group.
