The committee tasked with electing more Democrats to the Senate is reporting a $10 million haul in July, outpacing its Republican counterpart for the fourth month in a row, according to numbers first released to NBC News.
With less than three months until the November elections, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee appears to be in a more formidable financial position, with $54.1 million cash on hand, well more than double the $23 million left in the National Republican Senatorial Committee’s account.
The NRSC reported about $8 million in fundraising in July.
The DSCC’s $10 million total last month is down from the $12.5 million it raised in June, when, it said, there was a surge in donations after the Supreme Court struck down constitutional protections for abortion.
The fundraising figures were reported amid increasing questions over whether Republican can wrest control of the 50-50 Senate from Democrats in a midterm year that had been predicted to be favorable to them.
Last week, the NRSC cut advertising in three key battleground states, a move that flagged financial troubles. A committee spokesman denied backtracking in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Arizona and said the ads would be rebooked in coordination with individual Senate campaigns to save money.
In a statement, Executive Director Christie Roberts lauded the DSCC’s grassroots fundraising but said Democrats are cognizant that no battleground state will be a cakewalk.
“We know each of our battleground races will be tight, and the DSCC will continue to take nothing for granted,” she said.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., last week downplayed an expectation of GOP gains in the Senate this fall, saying he thought there was a “greater likelihood the House flips than the Senate.”
“Senate races are just different — they’re statewide. Candidate quality has a lot to do with the outcome,” he said.
McConnell spoke as indications grew that some Republican nominees, backed by Donald Trump, were struggling to gain traction in the general election.
One of them is J.D. Vance in Ohio, who is getting out-fundraised by Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan in a Republican-leaning state. The Senate Leadership Fund, a group aligned with McConnell, recently signaled it was buying $28 million in TV and radio ads to help boost Vance.
Another is celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz, a Republican who has been consistently polling behind Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman in Pennsylvania as Oz has stumbled.
