Daily Kos Elections is pleased to present our fourth quarterly fundraising charts of the 2020 election cycle for both the House and the Senate.
Politico reported last week that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy told his GOP colleagues that Democrats “are kicking our ass” in fundraising, and our data shows just how right he was. The Democrats who flipped GOP-held House seats in 2018 are continuing to raise money at a pace that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago, while Democratic challengers are also hauling in massive amounts. Collectively, Democratic House candidates raised $105 million during the quarter, compared to $82 million for GOP contenders (including minor candidates not listed on our chart).
This time, three vulnerable Democratic incumbents brought over $1 million during the quarter. The top fundraiser was Michigan Rep. Elissa Slotkin, who hauled in $1.3 million and closed the year with $2.9 million to spend. While her 8th District should be a top GOP target—it voted for Donald Trump 51-44—you wouldn’t know that from looking at the GOP candidates’ numbers. The best-funded Republican by far was former ICE official Paul Junge, who raised just $125,000 and self-funded another $148,000, leaving him with just $235,000 in the bank.
Not far behind Slotkin were fellow Democratic freshmen Reps. Max Rose of New York and Katie Porter of California. Rose took in $1.2 million and had $2.5 million to spend, while Porter raised $1 million and had $2.7 million in the bank. Republican Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis took in a distant $306,000 during this time and had $723,000 on-hand for her campaign to unseat Rose in this 54-44 Trump district. That’s considerably better for the GOP than the situation in Porter’s district, though, where not one Republican took in so much as $90,000 during the quarter.
That’s not all the good news for Democrats looking to hold the House, though. Four more freshman Democrats in competitive seats raised over $900,000, while an additional six took in over $800,000. Another 19 Democrats who flipped seats last cycle also raised over $500,000 during the quarter. To put these numbers in perspective, during the fourth quarter of 2017, when the Republicans were trying in vain to hold the House, just two candidates in competitive seats raised more than $700,000.
There were a few bright spots for the GOP this time, though. Former Rep. David Valadao outraised Democratic incumbent TJ Cox $624,000 to $476,000 for their rematch in California’s 21st District, and Valadao ended December with a $1 million to $887,000 cash-on-hand edge. In another Golden State return bout, Republican Young Kim outraised Democratic incumbent Gil Cisneros $488,000 to $383,000 in the 39th District, and she held a small $889,000 to $850,000 cash-on-hand lead.
Just two other Republicans looking to flip Democratic-held seats raised more than $400,000 from donors, and they both took in considerably less money than their opponents. Over in Iowa’s 1st District, Democratic Rep. Abby Finkenauer outraised GOP state Rep. Ashley Hinson $602,000 to $432,000 and ended December with a $1.4 million to $735,000 cash-on-hand lead.
In the March top-two primary for the special election for California’s vacant 25th District, meanwhile, Navy veteran Mike Garcia was the top GOP candidate with $405,000 raised and $313,000 in the bank. Former Rep. Steve Knight, who is Garcia’s main intra-party rival, was far behind with just $122,000 raised and $106,000 on-hand. Garcia’s haul was still well behind what the two main Democrats, Assemblywoman Christy Smith and political commentator Cenk Uygur, took in, though. Smith outraised Uygur $835,000 to $796,000, though Uygur held a small $652,000 to $592,000 cash-on-hand lead.
Of course, as we’ve noted before, we're comparing Democratic incumbents with Republican challengers in most of these races, but that just reflects the reality of next year's battlefield: The GOP has to go on offense, so the races that will determine control of the House will take place in districts held by potentially vulnerable Democrats. If Republicans can't match resources with Democrats, they're going to have a very hard time taking a majority.
The fundraising battle for the Senate was just as lopsided: Democrats brought in $49 million to just $38 million for Republicans, a disparity, in percentage terms, identical to that in the House. Team Blue’s fundraising all-star was Arizona's Mark Kelly, who outraised appointed Sen. Martha McSally $6.2 million to $3.9 million and held a wide $13.6 million to $7.7 million cash-on-hand lead. Democrats also outraised Republicans in Colorado, Kentucky, and Maine, but the GOP incumbents each had considerably more money to spend at the end of 2019.
Once again, the top GOP challenger, and the only one who outraised a Democratic incumbent, was Michigan's John James, who took in $3.5 million to Sen. Gary Peters’ $2.5 million. Peters still ended 2019, though, with a $8 million to $6 million cash-on-hand lead.
There's a whole lot more to check out, so get busy scouring our House and Senate charts.
Editor’s note: This piece has been updated to reflect fundraising totals for Senate candidates who are running this year. Previous totals included fundraising for senators who are not up for re-election in 2020.