Senate Democrats’ super PAC raised $61 million in 2019

Senate Majority PAC (SMP), the super PAC affiliated with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) that works to support Democratic candidates for Congress’s upper chamber, raked in $61 million in 2019.

The hefty haul set a record for the group’s off-year fundraising, more than tripling the amount it raised in 2015. It also finished 2019 with $47 million cash on hand, far exceeding the $13.7 million it had at the same point two years ago.

“Our record-breaking fundraising is another sign that the American people are fed up with Senate Republicans toeing the [Senate Majority Leader Mitch] McConnell line,” SMP President J.B. Poersch said in a statement.

“We start 2020 with the momentum and resources necessary to compete deep into the Senate map, while Senate Republicans are forced to defend vulnerable incumbents who become more unpopular by the day.”

The 2019 haul was first reported by Politico.

Democrats are hoping to chip into the GOP’s 53-47 majority in the Senate if not take the chamber’s majority all together. Republicans are defending 23 seats, of which at least a half-dozen are considered competitive. Democrats are only defending two or three seats that are could be competitive.

SMP outraised its GOP counterpart, Senate Leadership Fund (SLF), which is affiliated with McConnell, in 2019. SLF raised $27.3 million in the off year and had $30.8 million in the bank, according to The Washington Post. When combined with other GOP outside groups, the organizations combined to raise $68.3 million and had $68.1 million in the bank at the end of the year.