Without question, defeating Donald Trump this year is job one—because if we don’t do that, job two will likely involve tossing deep-fried Soylent Green to the free-range Trump clones waiting for OG Don’s consciousness to upload into their brains for yet another go at infrastructure week.
That said, if we want government to function properly, and for President Joe Biden to have a Congress he can actually work with to achieve popular legislative goals, like restoring abortion rights nationwide, Democrats need to take back the House and keep the Senate. And while that’s certainly a tall order, given the difficult lineup of races Democrats face this cycle, there’s also plenty of good news on that front. Democrats are winning the Senate fundraising battle—in many cases by eye-popping margins.
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If fundraising is a proxy for enthusiasm, it would be hard to argue that MAGA is on the rise and the forces of good are flagging. While Trump’s fundraising has picked up lately, his efforts have paled in comparison to Biden’s.
Meanwhile, House Democratic candidates hold a financial edge over Republicans as well. According to CNN, “of the 22 races rated as ‘Toss Up’ contests by The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter, the top Democratic fundraiser overperformed the top Republican in 20 of them during the first quarter.”
As for the Senate—an admittedly uphill battle for Democrats—Politico reports that thus far this year, Democratic incumbents have outraised their Republican challengers in almost all of the most competitive Senate races—in some cases, by a lot. CNN listed 10 of the most closely watched Senate races and noted that the Democrat in each of them has a fundraising advantage—in some cases an overwhelming one.
For instance, Arizona Rep. Ruben Gallego, running for the seat Democrat-turned-independent Kyrsten Sinema is vacating, has $9.6 million in cash on hand, compared to his Republican opponent, Kari Lake, who has $2.5 million. Ohio incumbent Sherrod Brown has nearly $16 million, while his Republican opponent, Bernie Moreno, controls just $1.8 million. And Montana incumbent Jon Tester currently has $12.7 million compared to Republican Tim Sheehy’s $1.9 million.
But those numbers don’t take into account likely future dark money expenditures and the personal wealth of some of the Republican candidates.
As CNN reports:
Ohio businessman Bernie Moreno, who, buoyed by a Trump endorsement, clinched the GOP nomination to take on Brown last month, loaned his campaign $1.5 million in the first quarter, bringing his total self-funding so far this cycle to $4.5 million.
In Montana, entrepreneur and retired Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy, who appears well positioned to win the GOP nod in June, has loaned his campaign nearly $1.5 million so far, including $500,000 in the first quarter.
Former hedge fund executive Dave McCormick, who recently secured Trump’s support, made a nearly $1 million first-quarter loan to his campaign in Pennsylvania. (He loaned his unsuccessful 2022 bid for the state’s other Senate seat more than $14 million.) And in Wisconsin, Republican bank executive Eric Hovde lent his campaign $8 million since launching his challenge to Baldwin in February, according to the latest reports.
But while corporate interests and wealthy, corporate-friendly candidates will likely be able to close some of these fundraising gaps, the enthusiasm gap that’s indicated by these gaudy Democratic numbers is another story.
And that’s a good thing, because Democrats are on the right side of history—as in, all the history that’s happened since 1864—while Republicans seem intent on turning the clock back as far as they possibly can.
Americans have already made clear they’re dead set against the Republican path, and they appear to be putting their money where their mouth is. That said, this remains a tough hill to climb, so Democrats need to GOTV, support Democratic Senate candidates, and keep climbing through November and beyond.
Check out Aldous J. Pennyfarthing’s four-volume Trump-trashing compendium, including the finale, Goodbye, Asshat: 101 Farewell Letters to Donald Trump, at this link.
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