Democratic candidates have substantially outraised their Republican rivals in a series of closely watched US Senate races, with the party’s campaigns raising more than five times as much across 10 battleground contests between July and September.
The figures underline the financial pressure facing Republican candidates as the midterm elections enter their final stretch. In Texas, Democrat James Talarico raised $60.2 million in his main campaign account, compared with $10.2 million for Republican Ken Paxton.
In Georgia, Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff raised $33.1 million against nearly $2.8 million for Republican Representative Mike Collins. Democrat Roy Cooper raised $12.2 million in North Carolina, while Republican Michael Whatley brought in $2.1 million.
The gap was also wide in Michigan, where Democrat Abdul El-Sayed collected roughly $33 million to former Republican representative Mike Rogers’ nearly $10 million. In Maine, Democrat Troy Jackson raised $20.5 million, compared with $5.2 million for Republican Senator Susan Collins.
Former Democratic senator Sherrod Brown raised $23.1 million in Ohio, nearly five times the $4.8 million collected by Republican Senator Jon Husted. In Iowa, Democrat Josh Turek brought in $13.9 million to Republican Representative Ashley Hinson’s nearly $3.3 million.
Democratic former representative Mary Peltola raised $17 million in Alaska, compared with almost $2.7 million for Republican Senator Dan Sullivan. In New Hampshire, Democratic Representative Chris Pappas raised $8.1 million against $1.5 million for former Republican senator John E Sununu.
The smallest Republican total among the 10 races came in Kansas, where Senator Roger Marshall raised just $866,000, compared with nearly $9.9 million for Democrat Adam Hamilton.
Talarico’s haul alone exceeded the combined fundraising of the Republican candidates in all 10 contests.
Marshall and Whatley each began October with less than $1 million in cash, while Collins had just over $1 million available as the election approached. Whatley has since stopped running television advertising, a sign that his campaign may be short of funds, although it has described the pause as temporary.
Republican groups provide financial backing
The figures do not include joint fundraising committees, which can raise money for candidates and may hold funds that have not yet been transferred to individual campaigns.
Republican candidates are also receiving support from outside groups with considerably greater financial resources than their Democratic counterparts. Super PACs backed by billionaire Elon Musk and President Donald Trump’s MAGA Inc have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the midterms in recent weeks.
Musk was identified on Thursday as the principal funder of a Texas political action committee that has spent $131 million supporting Paxton and attacking Talarico. Filings showed that Musk gave $158 million to the Senate Republicans’ super PAC arm during the last quarter, with the group transferring the money to the pro-Paxton committee.
Republicans can also benefit from a recent Supreme Court ruling allowing party committees to spend unlimited sums in co-ordination with candidates. The National Republican Senatorial Committee can therefore help to narrow at least part of the fundraising gap.
There are some areas of relative strength for the Republicans. In Minnesota, Republican Michele Tafoya raised $4.9 million, slightly ahead of Democratic lieutenant governor Peggy Flanagan’s $4.3 million.
Sullivan, Husted, Hinson, Rogers and Collins all entered October with more cash on hand than their Democratic opponents, while Susan Collins also had millions more available than the Democrat challenging her.
Democrats have consistently raised more than Republican candidates at individual campaign level this election cycle. The scale of the latest disparities, however, has added to signs of a deteriorating financial position for the GOP as polling day draws closer.
Candidate-held cash can be particularly valuable because it gives campaigns access to cheaper television advertising rates, allowing their funds to go further. At least six Democratic challengers in House races raised more than $3 million during the quarter — more than several Republican Senate incumbents.
The latest reports, filed on Thursday, cover the period only up to September 30, meaning the full state of each candidate’s finances remains unclear.
