Democratic House Campaign Outpaces Republicans in Fundraising

(Bloomberg) -- The Democrats’ House campaign arm raised more than its Republican counterpart for the seventh straight month in August as the two parties and their allied political committees furiously raise and spend money with the fight for control of Congress entering the homestretch.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee started September with $69.8 million in the bank after raising $15.4 million in August and spending $18.2 million, filings Thursday with the Federal Election Commission show.

The National Republican Congressional Committee began the month with $64.6 million in its treasury after taking in $5.9 million during August and spending $9.1 million. It’s biggest single receipt -- $421,868 -- came from Protect the House, a joint fundraising committee that’s received donations from billionaire Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Tesla Inc.

The House Democrats’ campaign arm has been spending big as the party strives for gaining at least the 23 seats that would give it a majority in the chamber. Over the past seven months, the DCCC has spent $65.6 million, or $24.2 million more than the NRCC.

Read More: Outside Money Floods Into Pivotal Congressional Races

For the national committees of both parties, the situation was reversed.

The Republican National Committee took in $16.4 million, spent $16.5 million and started September with $41.8 million cash on hand. Small-dollar donors, those giving $200 or less, continued to pour money into the RNC’s coffers, generating $7.7 million. Trump Victory, a joint fundraising committee that benefits President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign and GOP party committees, transferred $1.5 million to the RNC.

The Democratic National Committee raised $9.3 million in August, which the committee said was its best non-presidential year August since 2010. It spent $8.9 million, and ended the month with $8 million cash on hand, but $7 million in debts. Small-dollar donors gave $3.4 million.

Super political action committees are also playing a critical role in the fight for Congress.

While super-PACs have the ability to raise money quickly from a small number of donors able to write seven and eight-figure checks, party committees face lower limits on how much they can raise from individual donors. House and Senate candidates file quarterly and their next reports are due Oct. 15.

Senate PACs

The Senate Leadership Fund, a super-PAC that supports Republican Senate candidates that’s linked to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, started September with $40.6 million in the bank. It raised $3.2 million in August, while spending $7.8 million. Pilot Corp. was the group’s top August donor, contributing $1 million.

SMP, a super-PAC that supports Senate Democrats, began the month with $29.1 million after raising $17.6 million in August and spending $12.4 million. The group’s biggest donor for the month was Fred Eychaner, a Chicago media and printing entrepreneur who gave $4 million. Billionaire George Soros contributed $1.4 million.

Eychaner also gave $2 million to the House Majority PAC, which supports Democrats. That group reported having $32.3 million at the start of September, after raising $15.8 million in August and spending $6.3 million. Linkedin Corp. co-founder Reid Hoffman was the group’s top donor in August, with a $3.1 million contribution.

Red and Gold, a new super-PAC that so far has focused its spending on opposing Representative Martha McSally, the Republican nominee for Arizona’s open Senate seat, received $600,000 from Soros and $500,000 from Renaissance Technologies LLC founder James Simons. SMP gave $1.7 million to the group, which ended August with $1.2 million in the bank.

More Funds

Billionaire Tom Steyer, the Democratic donor who is financing an effort to build support for impeaching Trump, gave $12.1 million to his super-PAC, NextGen Climate Action, which spent $9.4 million during the month. Steyer’s committee started September with $3.2 million in the bank.

Former New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg donated $2 million to the League of Conservation Voters, which is backing Democratic congressional candidates. He also gave close to $2 million in cash and in-kind contributions to the super-PAC affiliated with Emily’s List, which supports Democratic women who back abortion rights.

He also contributed $1.2 million in cash and $420,400 in research services to Independence USA PAC. That super-PAC has spent almost $960,000 opposing a trio of GOP House candidates in California.

Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News. He has pledged to give millions to help Democrats win control of the House and told the New York Times he’s considering a Democratic presidential bid.

The Club for Growth Action, part of the conservative Club for Growth network, raised $2.2 million in August, with $1.5 million of it coming from Jeff Yass, managing director of high-frequency trading firm Susquehanna International Group. The super PAC-ended the month with $2.3 million in the bank.

GOP mega donor Richard Uihlein, a packing supply magnate and a descendant of one of the founders of the Schlitz beer company, gave $900,000 in August to Solutions for Wisconsin, a super-PAC that’s been heavily involved in that state’s U.S. Senate primary. His candidate lost.

In a donation first reported by the Wall Street Journal earlier this month, billionaire Jeff Bezos gave $10.1 million to the With Honor Fund, a bipartisan super-PAC dedicated to electing more veterans to Congress. It’s by far the biggest federal political donation the Amazon.Com Inc. founder has made to date.

His parents, Miguel and Jacklyn Bezos, previously contributed $2 million to the group, which is currently supporting 18 Democratic and 15 Republican House candidates who served in the military.

To contact the reporters on this story: Bill Allison in Washington at ballison14@bloomberg.net;John McCormick in Chicago at jmccormick16@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, John Harney

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.