Contrasts in Campaign Funding

Better to be a down ballot D.

Two stories from Politico: House and Senate Republicans are starting to panic about a huge money gap with Democrats and Harris campaign, DNC, announce unprecedented down-ballot spending are quite the contrast.

From the GOP side:

Panic is starting to set in.

“The only thing preventing us from having a great night in November is the massive financial disparity our party currently faces,” said Jason Thielman, the executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. “We are on a trajectory to win the majority, but unless something changes drastically in the next six weeks, we will lose winnable seats.”

In some ways it’s a familiar place for the party, which has found itself facing a version of this quandary every two years since former President Donald Trump turbocharged Democrats’ small-dollar fundraising. And Republicans are sounding the alarm now because they believe there is still time to fix it.

From the Democratic side:

Kamala Harris’ campaign and the Democratic National Committee said Tuesday they are sending nearly $25 million to support down-ballot Democrats — an earlier investment and far more money than the top of the ticket has sent in past election years.

[…]

Harris’ campaign and the DNC are positioned to transfer more money this cycle due to a massive surge in fundraising after former President Joe Biden dropped out of the race in July. The vice president’s ascendancy led both grassroots and big-dollar donors to pick up their giving, and her campaign quickly surpassed Trump’s in terms of monthly fundraising and total campaign cash.

The transfers also reflect a recognition that achieving many of Harris’ stated priorities will require not only keeping the Senate — a difficult task, as the party is defending three seats in states won by Trump in 2020 — but also flipping back the House.

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Steven L. Taylor
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a retired Professor of Political Science and former College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog). Follow Steven on Twitter

Comments

  1. Kathy says:

    In some ways it’s a familiar place for the party, which has found itself facing a version of this quandary every two years since former President Donald Trump(sic) turbocharged Democrats’ small-dollar fundraising.

    Well, then. there’s a simple solution: sue the Democrats for all their small money donations, as it’s the rightful property of El Weirdo. He caused it, didn’t he? It’s his.

    File directly to the Leo & Crow court (formerly the United States Supreme Court), and tip the justices well for a same-day summary judgment.

    Of course, that won’t help the GQP, since El Weirdo will keep it all. But at least it will hurt the communistsocialists who want to destroy the country.

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  2. MarkedMan says:

    One of the things that gives me hope is knowing that whatever money has been sent in for Trump over the past four years is mostly gone to grifting. Think about it, the Repubs have been fundraising non-stop for that long and before they have done more than a few significant ad buys, the money is already gone.

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  3. Michael J Reynolds says:

    I’ve given about two and a half times normal this cycle. I added the Nebraska Senate race. The polling is tighter than you’d think. That’d be sweet, but Texas is the wet dream.

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  4. Franklin says:

    @MarkedMan: I’ve had that thought, but where does the grifted money end up? Mostly conservative lawyers? I mean, if some of it is dispersed to everyday people through the Trump family’s lavish lifestyle, that’s a net plus. But it’s hard to convince myself that money going to the grifter-in-chief is great for anybody.

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  5. Jen says:

    I see having the former President’s daughter-in-law at the helm is doing wonders. People give parties way too much credit for having all kinds of power–they don’t. Their one BIG role is to raise money. The other is to establish the infrastructure for, and then execute, a GOTV program.

    It’s almost like putting a total neophyte into the top job wasn’t a great idea.

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  6. Argon says:

    Putting a family of criminals in charge of your party’s finances puts at least a 50% tax on the budget as well …

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  7. Monala says:

    @Jen: Lara Trump was recently on her podcast (“The Right View with Lara Trump”) saying this about Harris: “I’m a woman, do me a favor, don’t ever give me a position based on the fact that I’m a woman. Either I earned it or I didn’t, and that’s it. That’s all I need.”