Democrats Terrify GOP With Record Breaking Fundraising Haul

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Enthusiasm for the Democratic cause is not disappearing. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), which backs Democratic House campaigns across the country, raised a record-breaking amount of money in February, according to newly available numbers. Across February, the group raised over $11.5 million, which is the most that they have ever raised in February of a midterm election cycle. In February of 2017, which preceded resounding Democratic victories in the House in 2018, the DCCC raised some $9.8 million.

On a similar note, at the end of February, the DCCC had almost $26 million on hand. Back at the end of February of 2017, the committee only had around $12.8 million on hand. The recent influx of cash isn’t coming from high-dollar contributors — the average online donation size was $16 in February, according to the committee.

As DCCC chair Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.) pointedly put it:

‘Americans are sending a clear message that they’re ready to hold congressional Republicans accountable for voting against much-needed economic recovery and vaccine funding so we can crush this pandemic and get our lives back to normal. Thanks to our incredible grassroots supporters and the hard work and leadership of Speaker Pelosi, the DCCC is able to hit the ground running early this cycle with bold investments across our battleground to remind voters of the clear contrast between Democrats who delivered the relief our communities need, and Republicans who stood in the way.’

At the time of the revelation of the DCCC’s February fundraising numbers, its Republican counterpart, which is known as the National Republican Congressional Committee, hadn’t revealed its own totals, but the National Republican Senatorial Committee had already reported that it raised $6.4 million in February — lower than the DCCC total and lower than the total that the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), which backs Democratic Senate campaigns, raised in the same period. The DSCC raised $7.2 million across February.

The midterm elections could be decisive. At present, Democrats control both chambers of Congress, but their control is markedly slim. In the House, Republicans would need to flip just 5 seats to become the majority party, while in the Senate, the GOP would only need to flip one seat to take control.

Five currently serving Senate Republicans have already announced that they plan to leave office instead of seeking re-election in the midterms, opening up opportunities for Democratic pick-ups. Pennsylvania Republican Pat Toomey, for instance, is vacating a Senate seat in a state where Joe Biden won last November and the other Senator is already a Democrat. In North Carolina, Republican Richard Burr is leaving office in a state where, in the most recent Senate race, the Republican candidate (Thom Tillis) won by less than 2 percent. Donald Trump won North Carolina by well under 2 percent in 2020, so there’s clearly space for a flip.