House Democrats’ campaign arm posted a record first quarter in their 2020 fundraising, pulling in $43.5 million in the first few months of the year.
That figure is a record for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), which now has $80 million on hand to spend for the 2020 cycle in which they’re fighting to protect their majority in the House. It’s also the most money that they’ve ever raised in a single quarter.
DCCC chairwoman Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.) told Newsweek “Freshmen Democrats will have the resources to get the jobs done. They’re running against people who have a very poor showing right now.”
Our record-breaking $43.5 MILLION first quarter fundraising total will go directly toward helping us to fortify and expand our Majority.
— DCCC (@dccc) April 20, 2020
“Freshmen Democrats will have the resources to get the jobs done." -DCCC Chairwoman @CheriBustos.https://t.co/o7zIA02JKX
The DCCC has been crushing its counterpart: the Republican National Congressional Committee (NRCC.) The NRCC has not released their fundraising numbers.
Last year, the DCCC out-raised the NRCC by $40 million.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has chided his troops for their lackluster fundraising numbers, saying of the Democrats, “They are kicking our ass.”
House Republicans need to flip nearly twenty seats to win back the majority that they lost in 2018, but that seems extremely unlikely. Cook Political Report notes that the House has not flipped twice in a row since 1954.
DCCC executive director Lucinda Guinn was blunt with Politico, saying, “We needed to put these seats to bed and be done with them in the off year, and that is what we set out to do.”
In a Monday tweet, Bustos wrote “the DCCC’s Frontline members have filed record-breaking fundraising numbers, proving just how fired up our grassroots supporters are to fortify & expand our Majority. House Democrats are committed as ever to delivering real results #ForThePeople.”
The @dccc's Frontline members have filed record-breaking fundraising numbers, proving just how fired up our grassroots supporters are to fortify & expand our Majority.
— Cheri Bustos (@CheriBustos) April 20, 2020
House Democrats are committed as ever to delivering real results #ForThePeople.https://t.co/ZWbfFvppi2
Also hurting House Republicans is Trump’s inability to campaign in vulnerable districts. The pandemic has forced the president to stay in the White House while he would normally be holding rallies in districts that Republicans need to win.