Republican Senate candidates are trailing far behind their Democratic opponents in fundraising totals and cash on hand.
The latest Federal Election Commission campaign finance reports published Saturday showed stark differences in battleground elections. These figures only account for money raised directly by each individual campaign and do not account for spending from outside groups.
MIDTERMS 2022: LIVE UPDATES FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL AHEAD OF CRUCIAL ELECTION
Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) raised $26.3 million in the third quarter between July and September and has $13.7 million in cash on hand. His opponent, Republican Herschel Walker, raised $12 million — less than half Warnock’s haul — in the same amount of time and has $7 million in cash on hand a month before the election.
In Arizona, Republican Blake Masters has not even slightly closed the gap between himself and Democratic incumbent Sen. Mark Kelly. Masters raised over $5 million in the third quarter and had $2 million remaining as of the filing deadline, while Kelly about $23 million and has over $13.1 million leftover.
Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D) is outpacing Dr. Mehmet Oz (R) in Pennsylvania with a $22 million haul in the third quarter and $4.1 million cash on hand. Oz raised $17 million, which included a $7 million personal loan, and had $2.5 million left to spend.
In Ohio, Rep. Tim Ryan (D) raised $17.2 million but only has $1.4 million in cash on hand, signaling precipitous spending that drained reserves heading into the last month of the campaign. Republican J.D. Vance only brought in $6.9 million comparatively but had $3.3 million in reserves. A similar scenario is playing out in North Carolina, where Democrat Cheri Beasley raised $13.3 million but has comparable cash reserves to Republican Rep. Ted Budd with $3.3 million and $2.9 million respectively. Budd raised $4.7 in the third quarter stretch.
Nevada is also following the pattern. Democratic incumbent Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto has raised $15 million and has about $5 million in cash on hand, while Republican Adam Laxalt raised $6.1 million and still has $4 million. Wisconsin’s Democratic challenger Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes brought in over $20 million for his race against incumbent Republican Sen. Ron Johnson. He has $3.4 million remaining, while Johnson raised $12.2 million and has $4.5 million in cash on hand.
Though Republicans are lagging in campaign donations, outside groups are trying to make up the difference with cash influxes and massive ad buys. The Senate Leadership Fund, a PAC closely associated with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), announced that it raised $111 million dollars between July and September, and will make multimillion-dollar ad buys across the country in the most contentious races.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“Many of these general election campaigns have been woefully underfunded, not because of the [National Republican Senatorial Committee] but because of the candidates’ campaigns themselves,” McConnell told CNN. “And we certainly — SLF has certainly — carried the lion’s share of the load.”
Republicans need a net gain of one Senate seat in order to take control of the upper chamber after the midterm elections on Nov. 8.
