Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona is set to report a political treasury of nearly $25 million across his federal accounts, emerging as one of the Democratic Party’s top fund-raisers and donors in recent months as he considers a potential presidential run.
In addition to that war chest, Mr. Kelly’s political team said he had now raised and given away a combined $10 million to other Democratic candidates and party committees ahead of the 2026 elections. That included $2 million to the Democratic National Committee and $3.5 million to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
“We can win back the House and the Senate, but it’s not going to be easy and it takes resources, and I want to make sure that I do everything I can to help get people across the finish line,” Mr. Kelly said in an interview. He provided his fund-raising figures to The New York Times before a federal filing deadline on Wednesday.
Mr. Kelly, a former astronaut and the husband of former Representative Gabby Giffords of Arizona, has long been a strong fund-raiser, winning election to the Senate in both 2020 and 2022 in a battleground state. But his fund-raising was turbocharged after President Trump in November accused him and five other Democratic lawmakers of “sedition” after they made a video telling active service members they could ignore illegal orders.
Mr. Trump said the six Democrats’ actions were “punishable by death,” and he shared a social media post that suggested they would have been hanged in the era of George Washington.
A grand jury in Washington rejected federal prosecutors’ attempt to secure a criminal indictment against Mr. Kelly. After Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth still sought to punish Mr. Kelly, a retired Navy captain, a federal appeals court panel signaled in May that it would not back the effort.
The episode thrust Mr. Kelly, who had been considered a potential running mate by former Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024, to further prominence.
Mr. Kelly raised more than $25 million in the final quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026 combined as the Trump administration targeted him. The pace slowed in the second quarter this year, but he still raised another $5.6 million, his team said.
Along the way, Mr. Kelly has tapped his large and growing email list to raise money for other candidates, including nearly $500,000 for other veterans and Democratic candidates with national security experience. The biggest single beneficiary at the candidate level has been Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia; the Kelly team said it had raised or contributed more than $400,000 to Mr. Ossoff’s re-election campaign.
The $2 million Mr. Kelly has raised for the D.N.C. — through signing and sending emails — is more than any other elected Democrat in the nation, according to a senior party official.
Mr. Kelly has also traveled to battleground states and states that could lead off the 2028 nominating contest, including Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina. He said he had raised money at events for two Democratic Senate nominees, Roy Cooper in North Carolina and Mary Peltola in Alaska.
Mr. Kelly is set to headline the Ohio Democratic Party’s annual dinner next month.
He said that stashing — and giving away — his cash was unconnected to any potential presidential 2028 run. He noted that the nearly $25 million he has in the bank is not “even in the same realm of what a presidential election takes.”
At the same time, Mr. Kelly was open about contemplating a future national campaign.
“If I was to do it, that’s something I think that certainly will help — I’ve never had a hard time raising money,” Mr. Kelly said.
“It’s a decision I’m going to have to make with my family. I’ve got plenty of time,” Mr. Kelly said, adding, “I also have to make a determination whether I think I can win.”
Mr. Kelly is likely to end the year having close to, if not the most, federal campaign cash of any potential Democratic presidential candidate. Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey entered April with $22.6 million in his bank account.
Three other potential 2028 Democratic candidates are in the eight-figure club as of their most recent filings: Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York (nearly $16 million), Representative Ro Khanna of California ($16.7 million) and Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut ($11.2 million).
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