Here's some surprisingly good news for Democrats, brought to by Philip Elliott in Democrats Have Big Advantage -- For Now. Although, before you get out the party favors, the spoiler alert is that these numbers do not include many independent groups and dark money where Republicans apparently have an advantage.
Deep-pocketed donors are turning over multimillion-dollar checks to influence November's elections, and the sums raised by the national parties and their super PAC allies are already approaching the $1 billion mark, according to financial reports still being filed Tuesday evening.
An imprecise snapshot of political giving is coming into focus as outside organizations detail their fundraising and spending through March 31. The enormous sums of money do not capture what federal candidates themselves are raising and spending. In other cases, some of the most active outside groups operate under rules that allow them to keep many details of their finances secret.
Democrats, at least for the moment, seem to have a roughly 3-to-1 advantage over Republicans in cash raised and banked through independent groups, according to the early filings. That balance of power could quickly change as new reports are filed with the Federal Election Commission.
Eliot tells us these numbers leave out money spend by Republican group to influence the election on general issues, but not mentioning specific candidates. Also, some a large groups such as the National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund still has until Sunday to report its funds.
Democratic campaign professionals and those with an interest in the details of campaign financing will find many interesting facts in this long article.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has $22.2 million on hand now.
And, in this second article, Paul Blumenthal give us his penetrating insights about how really large advantages in Democratic fund raising are striking back hard at the Koch's attempts to take control of the Senate.
Senate Majority PAC Raises Large Sum To Fight Back Against Kochs
WASHINGTON -- Senate Majority PAC, the super PAC trying to hold the Senate Democratic majority in the 2014 elections, posted a huge fundraising quarter to start the election year with $11 million raised over the first three months of 2014, according to a filing with the Federal Election Commission released on Tuesday.
The super PAC has been the lead backer of Democratic Senate candidates as they have faced expensive attacks from groups linked to the billionaire industrialist Koch brothers. The strong fundraising quarter will no doubt provide funds to play in the key Senate races across the country.
For the entire election cycle, Senate Majority PAC has raised nearly $20 million and spent $8.7 million in eight Senate races, including the special election in Massachusetts last year that elected Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.). The group had $8.5 million cash on hand at the end of March.
Let's keep giving Democrats. These 2014 elections are among the most important in a long, long time. Yes, we can.