Five takeaways from Q2 fundraising this year

A growing number of candidates and PACs have announced their second quarter fundraising for this year, with Friday marking the deadline to file their fundraising reports. 

Though not all candidates and PACs have formally announced their numbers, a few interesting dynamics have emerged. 

For one, a number of Senate Democrats and Democratic challengers seeking Senate seats posted better hauls than their Republican counterparts — a possible dose of optimism for the party amid what is anticipated to be a challenging midterm environment. 

In two contests, GOP incumbents have reported better fundraising numbers than challengers backed by former President Trump, raising questions over whether his endorsement will be enough to push candidates past the finish line in November.

Plus, gubernatorial races in Texas and Georgia are seeing eye-popping fundraising numbers. 

Here are five takeaways so far from this latest round of fundraising: 

In a handful of Senate races, Democrats fared better than their Republican challengers

A number of Senate Democrats and Democratic challengers posted impressive fundraising hauls for the second quarter that outpaced those of their Republican counterparts.

In Colorado, incumbent Sen. Michael Bennet (D) raised $3.3 million compared to Republican candidate Joe O’Dea’s close to $2 million. 

Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), running for Senate in Ohio, raked in $9.1 million while “Hillbilly Elegy” author J.D. Vance (R) got over $2.3 million for the quarter. Vance’s campaign noted that the total included money he received from JD Vance for Senate Inc., Ohioans for JD and Vance Victory.

Over in Pennsylvania, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D), who is running for retiring Sen. Pat Toomey’s (R-Pa.) Senate seat, recorded $11 million. His Republican challenger, Mehmet Oz, raised $3.8 million, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. 

Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.), who is vying for Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-Fla.) seat, raked in more than $12.2 million. Rubio’s campaign has not yet released his latest fundraising numbers.

Incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) received over $17.2 million in second quarter fundraising while former football star Herschel Walker (R) got nearly $6.2 million. 

Some of those Senate races are considered to be among the most competitive for this election cycle. These fundraising figures could provide some optimism for Democrats who are facing headwinds in the midterms amid high inflation and President Biden’s lagging approval ratings.  

House Democrats’ campaign arm edged past its Republican counterpart

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), House Democrats’ campaign arm, reported slightly higher fundraising in the latest quarter than House Republicans’ campaign arm, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC).

The DCCC announced on Wednesday it brought in $40.7 million over the last three months compared to the NRCC, which reported over $34 million.

In June alone, House Democrats’ campaign arm raised $17 million while House Republicans’ raked in $16.5 million.

The NRCC begins the next quarter with $109 million in the bank compared with the DCCC’s $121.5 million.

While the president’s party usually suffers loses seats in the midterms, a Politico-Morning Consult poll released earlier this week showed that Democrats held a 4-percentage point lead over Republicans in a generic congressional ballot. However, that polling comes with several months left to go before the November midterms. 

House Republicans’ campaign arm posts higher Q2 fundraising than GOP Senate counterpart

The NRCC posted higher figures for this latest quarter of fundraising than the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), Senate Republicans’ campaign arm. 

While the NRCC received more than $34 million for this last quarter, the NRSC raised $25.6 million. Looking at June alone, Senate Republicans’ campaign arm raked in $9.45 million compared to its House GOP counterpart, which received $16.5 million.

The House committee has raked in $215 million for this cycle so far and begins the next quarter with $109 cash on hand. The Senate committee has raised $173.4 million in the cycle so far and starts off the next quarter with $28.453 million cash on hand.

Two GOP incumbents raked in more money than their Trump-endorsed challengers

Two Republican incumbents’ campaigns — those of Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) — received more money in this latest quarter of fundraising than those of their challengers, who were endorsed by Trump.

In Alaska, Murkowski’s reelection campaign announced that she raised close to $1.7 million. Anchorage Daily News reported that her Trump-endorsed competitor Kelly Tshibaka’s (R) campaign raked in $587,000. 

Over in Wyoming, Cheney’s campaign told the Casper Star-Tribune she had raised roughly $2.9 million. Meanwhile, her challenger Harriet Hageman (R) fundraised more than $1.8 million during that same time period. 

Both Murkowski and Cheney drew Trump’s ire when they voted in favor of impeaching the former president following the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Cheney is also one of two Republicans who sits on the House select committee investigating the Capitol attack. 

Major hauls reported in Texas and Georgia gubernatorial races

Two gubernatorial races are seeing a notable amount of fundraising, with millions of dollars being raised by all four candidates in the latest quarter of fundraising. 

In Texas, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke’s campaign announced he had raised $27.6 million between Feb. 20 and June 30 from over 511,000 donations, while incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) campaign raked in $24.9 million from roughly 113,000 donations. 

A University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs poll out this week showed Abbott holding a 5 percentage point lead over O’Rourke.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the gubernatorial race as “likely Republican.”

The Georgia gubernatorial race is also seeing some major figures reported for this latest quarter. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s (R) campaign raked in roughly $3.8 million in addition to about $3 million that the Kemp-aligned PAC, Georgians First Leadership Committee, received in May and June.

But Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams hauled in roughly $9.6 million in the same two months, in addition to roughly $12.3 million raised by her One Georgia Leadership Committee.

A poll from the AARP’s Georgia chapter released this week showed Kemp leading Abrams 52 percent to 45 percent.

The gubernatorial is rated as a “toss up” by Cook Political Report.