For months, Republicans found reassurance in a large fundraising lead over Democrats. According to a Bulwark report, that lead is eroding as Democratic money pours in.
House Majority PAC and its affiliated groups raised $230 million from July through September, the most they’ve ever collected in a single quarter. Senate Majority PAC and its allies reported a record third quarter as well, at $202 million. Campaign staffers working on top Senate races say their candidates are also on pace for record quarters, with official numbers due October 15, and 314 Action, which backs candidates with science backgrounds, says it has brought in $25 million this cycle.
Even the debt-burdened Democratic National Committee is seeing movement. A DNC official said September was the committee’s strongest month of the cycle for large donors, with six times the number of six-figure givers as in September 2018. Nearly half of the 84 people who gave at least five figures hadn’t donated since 2024 or before. The DNC is still digging out of debt and trails the Republican National Committee badly in cash.
The shift also undercuts Trump adviser James Blair, who said in April that House Majority PAC’s $272 million ad reservation was a bluff Democrats couldn’t pay for. An HMP official now says the group can afford all of it.
“People are giving right now,” said Democratic strategist Mike Nellis.
Democrats aren’t celebrating yet. The party’s biggest donors have yet to write blockbuster checks, and the overall gap remains wide since Republican donors are likely stepping up too. Veteran fundraiser Rufus Gifford credited strong candidates and a jittery donor base, and said he isn’t relaxing.
“No, not even a little bit,” Gifford said.
Still, the money is giving Democrats room to maneuver late in the race. They’re directing more to digital ads and the DCCC added six candidates to its “Red to Blue” program, in districts Trump carried by an average of 16 points. House Majority PAC pulled ads from California’s 48th and Nebraska’s 2nd districts, a vote of confidence rather than a funding problem, while buying time for the first time in Florida’s 22nd and Ohio’s 7th and 10th.
Democrats also argue that Republican spending looks larger than it is, because super PACs pay higher TV rates than campaigns. AdImpact found Republicans outspent Democrats on Texas broadcast ads by 44 percent through September but ran only 8 percent more ads — one possible reason the ad campaign hasn’t moved the needle as much as the GOP hoped.
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