Democrats boast impressive fundraising campaigns in some The most important Senate contests this yeara potential voter marker agitation In what remains A tedious task To win the Senate majority.
In the first three months of the year, the Democratic Senate candidate for Texas James Tallarico campaign He said he raised $27 million, while current Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia said he raised $14 million. Former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper’s campaign said he will announce $13.8 million and former Sen. Sherrod Brown will announce $12.5 million in his bid to return to Ohio.
This money will help Democrats make their case to voters and fend off Republican attacks, but it does not change the basic fact that control of the Senate will be decided in a district that favors Republicans. With the exception of Maine, where Democrats Graham Blattner and Janet Mills are still vying for the party’s nomination to challenge Republican Sen. Susan Collins, all of the major races are in states won by President Donald Trump in 2024.
While Democrats tout their totals, they are only offering a snapshot of their fundraising totals, as the campaigns had until the end of the day Wednesday to submit them to the Federal Election Commission.
In races where Republicans announced fundraising by Tuesday evening, Democrats were far ahead.
In Texas, incumbent Sen. John Cornyn and state Attorney General Ken Paxton — who are in a bitter runoff for the GOP nomination — raised a combined $2.5 million, less than 10% of Talarico’s revenue for the quarter. Two of Georgia’s three main Republicans — Derrick Dooley and Buddy Carter — combined for about $1.1 million. The third, Mike Collins, had not yet announced a fundraising as of Wednesday evening.
Former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley raised $2.1 million in North Carolina, and Sen. Jon Husted raised $2.9 million in Ohio.
Collins, a top target for Democrats, raised $3.1 million in Maine. Mills, the governor favored by much of the Democratic establishment, said she would announce $2.6 million, while Blatner, an oyster farmer backed by progressive leaders including Sen. Bernie Sanders, said he had raised $4 million.
In Alaska, former Democratic Representative Mary Peltola said she would raise $8.9 million, compared to $1.7 million for Republican Senator Dan Sullivan.
Republicans said overflowing coffers do not guarantee victory.
Retiring Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina noted that his 2020 opponent also celebrated successful fundraising stints but did not win.
Democrats Beto O’Rourke in 2018 in Texas and Jaime Harrison in 2020 in South Carolina broke fundraising records and still lost to their Republican challengers.
“We don’t have to increase them,” Tillis said. “We just have to run away from them.”
There is an imbalance in favor of Republicans at the national committee level. The Republican National Committee reported nearly $109 million in cash in its most recent FEC filing, compared to about $16 million for its Democratic counterpart, plus Democrats carry about $17 million in debt.
Waiting for Republicans is a super PAC linked to Trump. MAGA company — which has more than $300 million in cash on hand, according to the Federal Election Commission.
First-quarter pink contributions carry some advantages for Democrats, namely the ability to buy limited ad slots before the election to get on the air early and make an impression with voters. Candidates also get favorable rates for TV ads, so their money goes further than independent expenditures by outside groups, though that advantage is eroding as ad spending increasingly shifts toward digital broadcasting.
“Winning in Texas will require unprecedented resources,” Tallarico campaign manager Seth Krasin said in a statement. “Grassroots fundraising puts our movement in a strong position to spread our message in some of the most expensive media markets in the country.”
Tallarico will face the winner of the May 26 GOP runoff between Cornyn and Paxton.
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Associated Press writer Joey Cappelletti in Washington contributed to this report.