by The main campaign arm for House Democrats raised $56.5 million from July through the end of September, according to numbers first shared with CBS News.
Their total means the committee has raised more than their Republican counterparts over the same period, as the party in control of the House faces massive super PAC spending and historic headwinds heading into November’s midterm elections.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) raised $27.5 million in September, with $14 million of that coming from “grassroots funding,” or donations of $200 or less. They raised $10.5 million more than their counterparts at the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) for the month, who raised $16.9 million in September.
The committee attributes their number to the action of Democratic voters after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, putting the issue of access to abortion front and center in these interim periods.
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Democrats have outperformed or won several special elections since the Dobbs decision, including holding New York’s 19th Districtwhich Mr. Biden won by just one point in 2020. They also flipped Great Alaska locationwhich was previously held by the late Republican Rep. Don Young.
In a statement, DCCC Chairman Sean Patrick Maloney thanked House Democrats, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Joe Biden for their “hard work… [they] guarantee that Democrats can continue to fight for American families.”
Mr. Biden will hold a fundraiser Thursday in Los Angeles for the DCCC.
“While House Republicans try to ‘moderate’ their extreme MAGA, unknown nominees, House Democrats are taking nothing for granted as we continue our fight to lower prices, restore Roe’s guarantee of reproductive freedom, and protect democracy us from those who seek to overthrow it in their own selfish ploy for power,” Maloney said in a statement.
The NRCC collected $42.3 million from July through the end of September, $14 million less than the DCCC for the quarter.
The NRCC said it raised $257.4 million this round and has $92.3 million in cash. Their cash count is nearly $40 million more than they had at this point in the 2020 cycle, when House Republicans beat expectations and overturned 15 seats.
The DCCC has raised more than $295 million this cycle, according to a CBS News analysis of campaign finance reports. The DCCC says it had $59.2 million in cash for October.
NRCC Chairman Tom Emmer said “our candidates will have the resources they need to prosecute the case against the failed Democratic agenda.”
The advantage House Democrats have with their caucuses is in contrast to the main House super PACs for both parties.
The Republican-backed congressional leadership fund said Wednesday it brought in $73 million from July through the end of September and has $114 million in cash on hand. They also said they pulled in a record $295 million across the cycle. That number is combined with what their advocacy group, the American Action Network, has gathered.
The House Democrats’ PAC raised $55 million from July to the end of September and $134 million over the entire cycle, $86 million less than what the Congressional Leadership Fund brought in.
“We continue to break records this cycle because there is palpable excitement behind electing a Republican Majority and ending the one-party rule of Democrats,” said CLF President Dan Conston, who added that they are “in a great position. .. plans to help win the majority of the House.”
House Republicans need a net gain of just five seats to flip the chamber for a total of 218. The latest CBS News battleground state tracker of House races projected Republicans to win 223 seats in November, compared to 212 for Democrats. That estimate has gradually shrunk for House Republicans who were projected to win 230 seats in July and 226 seats in August.
But Republican strategists and groups feel confident that the political environment with a month to go is still in their favor — and that they’re spending heavily on ads in this house.
Two GOP-aligned outside groups, the Congressional Leadership Fund and the American Action Network, have combined bookings of $190 million in TV ads through the end of the year, while the House Majority PAC and its nonprofit House Majority Forward have spent a combined $135 $ million, according to data from ad tracking firm AdImpact.
Meanwhile, the DCCC has spent $88.3 million on advertising, in addition to coordinating purchases with several of its most vulnerable members. More than $9.7 million has been spent in Las Vegas, a market that touches several incumbents, and more than $3.75 million in Maine’s 2nd District, represented by Democratic Rep. Jared Golden. Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin and more than $3.7 million in California’s 22nd District, where Democrats are trying to unseat Republican Rep. David Valadao.
By comparison, the NRCC has spent $91.2 million on advertising throughout the year, excluding coordinated campaign purchases. They have spent more than $6.75 million in the Los Angeles market, which includes vulnerable Republican Reps. Mike Garcia, Young Kim and Michelle Steel, as well as Democratic Rep. Katie Porter. According to AdImpact, they’ve spent at least $5 million on ads in four districts: Michigan’s 7th District (Slotkin), California’s 22nd District (Valantao), Virginia’s 7th District (D.Abigail Spanberger) and the 2nd District of Maine (Golden) .
