Senate GOP campaign arm raises nearly $8.4 million in November

Senate Republicans’ campaign arm hauled in nearly $8.4 million last month, bolstering its war chest ahead of next year’s crucial midterm elections.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) said in figures shared first with The Hill that it raised the money from 220,935 donations, of which over 99 percent were for under $200. The NRSC finished November with $30.1 million in the bank and no debt.

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), the NRSC chair, credited frustrations over vaccine mandates and inflation with buoying the GOP’s coffers.

“Instead of working to help families succeed, Democrats are threatening them. Democrats are threatening to get folks fired through unconstitutional vaccine mandates. They’re threatening struggling families with a choice between gas, groceries, or heating their homes this winter. In stark contrast, Republicans are working every day to lift families, workers, and job creators up and save them from Senate Democrats’ disastrous policies,” Scott said in a statement.

“With Joe Biden and Senate Democrats pushing a deeply unpopular, socialist agenda, I am more confident than ever that Senate Republicans will retake the majority in 2022.”

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), the NRSC’s Democratic counterpart, has not yet released its fundraising figures for November. The DSCC raised $6.9 million in October, compared with $9 million for the NRSC that month.

The fundraising haul comes as Republicans boast of their chances of retaking the Senate next year. The chamber is currently divided 50-50, with Democrats only holding the majority due to Vice President Harris’s tie-breaking vote, meaning Republicans must net just one seat to flip the chamber.

Midterm elections typically favor the party out of the White House, and Republicans successfully flipped Virginia’s governor’s mansion last month and nearly unseated Gov. Phil Murphy (D) in New Jersey, where the gubernatorial contest was not anticipated to be competitive.

Republicans are targeting Democratic senators in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and New Hampshire. Meanwhile, the GOP is defending open seats in Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania while waiting for Sen. Ron Johnson (R) to decide if he’ll run for reelection next year in Wisconsin. 

Overall, Republicans are defending 20 seats to Democrats’ 14.