GOP Senate campaign arm says it raised $6.4 million in February

The GOP’s Senate campaign arm raised more than $6.4 million last month, it said Wednesday.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) said that more than half of its February fundraising haul — $3.8 million — came from grassroots online giving and that its average donation size for the month was $32. 

The group’s announcement, which was first reported by the Daily Caller, comes as former President Trump is seeking to bar the NRSC and two other GOP groups, the Republican National Committee (RNC) and the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), from using his name and image in fundraising appeals.

The NRSC said it ended February with more than $15 million in the bank. The group also paid off $3.6 million worth of the $9 million debt it carried over from the 2020 election cycle.

“After a strong start to the year, the NRSC once again brought in an impressive haul in February,” Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), the chair of the NRSC, said in a statement. “With more than half of February donations coming from online contributions, it’s clear the grassroots energy is behind Senate Republicans and our pro-family, pro-America agenda in 2022.”

The NRSC’s fundraising last month outpaced its performance in previous non-election-year Februaries. In February 2019, the committee raised just under $6.4 million. In February 2017, it brought in about $5.1 million. 

Money has continued to flow into the NRSC’s coffers in recent months despite a pledge by some influential donors and corporate political action committees to suspend contributions to Republicans who objected to Congress’s certification of President Biden’s Electoral College victory — a group of lawmakers that includes Scott.

The efforts by some congressional Republicans to challenge the Electoral College results came after a mob of Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, forcing lawmakers and others to evacuate and temporarily disrupting the certification process. Five people, including a Capitol Police officer, died amid the riots.

The NRSC’s Democratic counterpart, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), hasn’t yet disclosed how much it raised in February. The groups aren’t required to formally file their financial reports with the Federal Election Commission until later this month. 

The NRSC outraised the DSCC last month, however, pulling in about $8.3 million to its rival’s roughly $6.1 million. The DSCC also reported more than twice as much debt as the NRSC last month — $20 million to the NRSC’s $9 million.

Both Senate campaign committees are in for a tough fight in the 2022 midterms. 

Despite the Senate being split 50-50 between the two parties, Democrats hold an effective majority given Vice President Harris’s role in casting tie-breaking votes. Republicans are eager to win back control of the upper chamber next year, while Democrats will be working to expand their narrow majority.

But Republicans will also be defending 20 seats next year compared to Democrats’ 14. That includes five seats from which incumbent senators are retiring.