Democratic Senate campaign arm outraises GOP by $8M in August

The Democratic Senate campaign arm outraised its Republican counterpart by about $8 million in August, as Democrats seek to win control of the upper chamber in November’s elections, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records. 

The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) raised about $19 million in August, according to an FEC report filed Sunday. 

The GOP’s August haul is the largest month total in NRSC history, according to the group. But it’s still $8 million less than the record-breaking nearly $27 million the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) raised in the same month. The DSCC announced its $26.9 million haul in a press release on Friday. 

The NRSC has more than $13.5 million cash on hand at the end of August, according to its filing. The NRSC said its cash on hand is larger than the group had on hand in 2016 and 2018 at the same time period. 

In addition to the DSCC outraising the NRSC in August, Democrats raised more than $91 million on the ActBlue online fundraising platform in the 28 hours after the Supreme Court announced Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had died. 

Donors broke records, raising $6.3 million in just one hour late Friday and $70.6 million on Saturday. The surge of donations flowed after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) vowed to push a vote on President Trump’s nominee for Ginsburg’s successor just weeks ahead of Election Day. Democrats called the move hypocritical, since McConnell blocked then-President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee about 10 months ahead of the 2016 election. 

Democrats need to pick up three or four seats, depending on which party wins control of the White House, to take control of the Senate. Several GOP senators are fending off tough reelection challenges, including in Arizona, Iowa, Maine, Georgia, North Carolina, Montana, Georgia and Colorado.