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Senate Democrats Still Outpacing Republicans In 2024 Fundraising

Senate Democrats Still Outpacing Republicans In 2024 Fundraising

Republicans can win back control of the U.S. Senate by flipping two Democratic seats. But that may prove difficult if the GOP continues to get out-worked by the Democratic Party's fundraising machine.

A Friday report by Bloomberg's Bill Allison revealed that despite having the support of conservative billionaires like investor Ken Griffin and the Charles Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity infrastructure, the GOP is still unable to catch up with Democrats in the 2024 money race. As of March 31, Ballotpedia's tally of party committee fundraising shows that Democrats and their affiliated House and Senate campaign arms have raised a total of $462.2 million in the 2024 campaign cycle, with $157.3 million in cash on hand. Republicans and their congressional fundraising operations, on the other hand, have raised $375 million with $114 million on hand.

"The money woes are a headwind for Senate Republicans, who seek to win a majority to pursue legislation to bolster US-Mexico border security and renew expiring tax cuts," Allison wrote. "It’s also a warning sign for presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump, who needs to win many of the same states hosting crucial Senate races."

Currently, the math favors Republican Senate candidates far more than Democrats, with the GOP only having to defend 11 seats compared to Democrats' 23. The most competitive Republican contests are in reliably red states, where Sens. Rick Scott (R-FL) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) are seeking their second and third six-year terms, respectively.

Democrats, however, are in a far more precarious position, with several senators in highly competitive races hoping to win another term in states where Trump won easily in both 2016 and 2020. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) is not seeking another term, and Republicans are expected to easily win that seat given that the Mountain State went for Trump by double-digit margins in the last two elections.

This means that the GOP — which currently has 49 U.S. senators — could win back the majority by taking just one of the close contests in either Arizona, Montana, or Ohio. After Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) announced she would not be running for reelection, the Grand Canyon State's Senate race will be between Republican election denier Kari Lake or Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ). Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) is seeking a fourth term in November, and is the lone Democrat representing a statewide seat in the Big Sky State, which Trump also won handily in both 2016 and 2020.

Ohio's U.S. Senate race may be the most expensive, given the Buckeye State's wealth of Electoral College votes (17 in 2024), longtime incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown's (D-OH) bid to keep his seat for a fourth term and the surprising result last year to permanently enshrine abortion rights in a now-comfortably red state that Trump won in both of his past campaigns. Ohio Republicans nominated Bernie Moreno in last month's primary, who has indicated support for a national abortion ban after 15 weeks of gestation.

Allison reported that the GOP has attempted to shore up its fundraising gap with Democrats by recruiting wealthy candidates who are able to invest large sums of their own personal wealth into their own campaigns. But GOP candidates are even trailing in those races with the exception of businessman Eric Hovde in Wisconsin, who slightly outperformed Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) in first quarter fundraising by loaning his campaign $8 million.

Businessman Tim Sheehy, who is running against Tester in Montana, is one example of that strategy in practice. The former Navy SEAL who launched his own aerial firefighting business has raised $8.3 million so far in the 2024 cycle, and has $1.9 million in cash on hand according to data compiled by Opensecrets. However, Tester is running up the score with more than $32 million raised and $12.6 million in cash on hand.

Trump's own legal woes could also be holding back the GOP from investing more in down-ballot races like the Arizona, Montana and Ohio Senate races. After his daughter-in-law Lara Trump was elected as co-chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC), the Trump campaign and the RNC entered into an agreement in which Trump's affiliated PACs — which help pay his legal expenses — get a cut of funds raised by the RNC before they actually go into the RNC's own accounts. The former president not only has two massive civil judgements adding up to a hefty nine-figure sum to contend with, but he is also having to pay to defend himself from 88 felony counts in three separate jurisdictions this year.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

'Absolute Bloodbath' Roils RNC As Trump Seizes Control Amid Purge Of Party

'Absolute Bloodbath' Roils RNC As Trump Seizes Control Amid Purge Of Party

With Ronna Romney McDaniel gone, the Republican National Committee (RNC) now has the ultra-MAGA leadership that Donald Trump wanted — including Trump loyalist Michael Whatley replacing McDaniel as chair and Lara Trump as co-chair.

But the changes at the RNC go beyond Whatley (who formerly chaired the North Carolina Republican Party) and Lara Trump, who is married to Donald Trump's son, Eric Trump.

According to Politico's Alex Isenstadt and The Guardian's Hugo Lowell, mass firings are underway — a purge a GOP source described as an "absolute bloodbath."

Lowell, in an article published by The Guardian on March 11, reports, "Donald Trump's new leadership team at the Republican National Committee started the process of ousting scores of staffers on Monday night, clearing out its ranks as they prepare to bring the Committee under the wing of the Trump 2024 presidential campaign, sources familiar with the matter said.

"The RNC, according to Lowell, "is expected to cull about 60 people across the political, data and communications departments."

"At least five members of the senior staff will be let go," Lowell explains, "and some third-party contracts may also be cancelled…. In ousting large swathes of the RNC, the new chair, Michael Whatley, and the new co-chair, Lara Trump — the former president's daughter-in-law — moved to reorganize the Republican Party's central committee to fall squarely behind the Trump campaign just days after they were formally elected."

Lowell adds, "The RNC is being brought under the Trump campaign to such an extent, the sources said, that the firings are mainly to ensure there is no overlap in roles between the RNC and the campaign. The Trump campaign, for instance, already has robust political and communications teams."

Isenstadt, reporting for Politico, notes that "Trump advisers have described the RNC's structure as overly bloated and bureaucratic."

"The RNC had about $8 million at the end of December, only about one-third as much as the Democratic National Committee," Isenstadt reports. "Under the new structure, the Trump campaign is looking to merge its operations with the RNC. Key departments, such as communications, data and fundraising, will effectively be one and the same."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

Lara Trump

Lara Trump Bullies Republicans Who Aren't 'On Board' With Former Guy

Friday, March 8 will mark the end of Ronna Romney McDaniel's time as chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC), and former President Donald Trump is recommending Michael Whatley (who chairs the North Carolina GOP) as McDaniel's replacement and Lara Trump (his daughter-in-law) as RNC co-chair.

Lara Trump has drawn criticism from some conservatives for vowing, during an interview with Newsmax's Rob Schmitt in February, that "every single penny" of RNC money "will go to the number one and the only job of the RNC — that is electing Donald J. Trump as president of the United States and saving this country."

Lara Trump, according to former RNC Chairman Michael Steele and other critics, is doing Republicans in down-ballot races a major disservice.

But the MAGA activist isn't backing down from her promise to prioritize her father-in-law's 2024 campaign over everything else. And she is threatening to disown any Republicans who aren't on board.

During an early March appearance on Real America's Voice, Lara Trump warned, "I can assure you, there will be no funny business. Anyone who is not on board with seeing Donald Trump as the 47th president and America-loving patriots all the way down the ticket being supported by the RNC is welcome to leave, because we are not playing games. And we have no time to waste."

Lara Trump continued, "So, we have to ensure that every single penny of every dollar donated goes to causes people care about. That's part of the reason that I think I'm such a great fit for this: There's no one more loyal to Donald Trump and the Make America Great Again movement than this person you’re looking at right here — than me."

Steele has been arguing that Lara Trump fails to understand the duties of being an RNC co-chair.

On MSNBC's The Weekend in February, Steele told host Alicia Menendez, "The number one responsibility of the RNC (is not) to elect Donald Trump. The number one responsibility is to elect every candidate who's on the ballot on behalf of the party. It is to raise money for those candidates who are on the ballot."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Lara Trump

Trump's Handpicked Co-Chair: 'In America, We Get Ahead By Merit Alone'

The annual Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, got under way on Thursday. One of the big names on the stage was none other than Donald Trump’s sycophant daughter-in-law Lara Trump, who is also the oft-indicted former president’s hand-picked candidate for co-chair of the Republican National Committee. She gave a pretty standard let’s-go-Donald-Trump speech, filled with some grade-school jingoism and an astonishing lack of self-awareness.

After throwing some red meat to the GOP base by bringing up the fabricated epidemic of trans student athletes, Lara made this extraordinary claim about her daughter: “I want her to understand that in the United States of America, we get ahead and succeed by merit and merit alone.”

That’s a truly rich statement coming from the former Lara Yunaska who, to repeat, was just endorsed as co-chair of the RNC by her powerful father-in-law, even though her main qualification seems to be her last name—unless her experience as a TV producer, Trump campaign surrogate, and Fox News talking head is supposed to count.

Lara’s seeming delusion about what constitutes a meritocracy is shared by others in her family. Who could forget when Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka bragged about her childhood business acumen—which amounted to her extorting the maids and butlers working for her father?

The Trump family epitomizes how being a failure at virtually everything you do means nothing when you are born (or married) rich.

Democratic voters know Joe Biden is old and MAGA voters like to pretend that Trump isn't just as long in the tooth. Both men were old the last time we did this and the only thing that’s changed is Biden is now a successful incumbent, while Trump is busy juggling trials and indictments.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.