Republicans Still Trailing Democrats in Cash Race

Republican Party committees started 2024 on a strong note, but they have far less money in the bank than their Democratic Party counterparts.

On Feb. 20, most of the committees and fundraising bodies released a monthly report with the Federal Election Commission, reflecting their financial performance in the first month of 2024.

RNC Fares Better in January

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) outraised the Republican National Committee (RNC) in January, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

On Feb. 20, the two major parties’ primary committees disclosed their financial activities for the first month of 2024.

According to the reports, the DNC collected about $17.4 million in total receipts, while the RNC raised about $11.6 million. The RNC spent about $10.9 million, while the DNC spent about $14.3 million.

The DNC maintains a significant cash-on-hand advantage. It said it possesses more than $24 million in the bank. The DNC also reported a debt of about $931,000. The RNC, which is drawing fire for its fundraising and cash reserve amounts, said it had $8.7 million on hand.

The RNC’s January haul is significantly better than the about $5.3 million the committee reported in December. The DNC, for its part, brought in about $14.7 million in December.

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Both committees saw massive gains over their January 2023 totals, which were about $4.8 million for the RNC and about $8.2 million for DNC.

Neither the RNC nor the DNC released any official statements. Still, on X, DNC Chair Jaime Harrison cheered a report that came from the Biden campaign about President Joe Biden’s fundraising efforts in the first month of 2024.

“Poll numbers say this… poll numbers say that,” Mr. Harrison said on X. “How about these numbers?!”

The RNC and DNC are the primary committees of their respective parties. The organizations are charged with developing and promoting the parties’ platforms and supporting candidates for local, state, and national offices.

Congressional Committees

In the first month of 2024, FEC filings show the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) and the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) outraised the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC).

The committees exist primarily to raise money and donate to the campaigns of candidates running for seats in the House or Senate.

The Republican bodies raised about $19.8 million in January, while the Democrat bodies raised $19.3 million. The same groups spent about $15.7 million and about $15 million, respectively.

The Democratic Party groups have a significant cash advantage over the Republican groups. Combined, the DSCC and DCCC hold about $17.9 million more in cash on hand than the NRCC and NRSC.

In the 118th Congress, Republicans are the majority party in the House. In the Senate, Republicans hold 49 of the 100 seats, and Democrats hold 48. Nevertheless, Democrats are considered the majority party because the three independent lawmakers—Sens. Angus King (I-Maine), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.)—caucus with the Democrats.

All 435 House seats will be up for election in November 2024. A third of the Senate seats will also be up for election.

ActBlue Advantage

ActBlue, which collects money from so-called small-dollar donors and sends it to Democratic Party candidates, brought in $96.2 million in the first month of 2024.

According to its FEC filing, ActBlue, a hybrid political action committee, sent out about $91.4 million during the month and now has about $59.6 million on hand.

A hybrid PAC, according to the FEC, can solicit and accept unlimited contributions from individuals, corporations, labor unions, and other political committees. It must maintain two bank accounts, one for independent spending on advertisements or voter drives and another for making direct contributions to federal candidates.

WinRed, a GOP answer to ActBlue, reports on a quarterly basis and is due to issue its next disclosure on April 15. When WinRed filed its most recent report, reflecting its 2023 results, it had about $201,000 on hand.