Democratic Senate candidates are flush with cash

Some Senate Democrats key to their hopes for flipping the chamber were practically printing money last quarter. They didn’t just outraise their Republican opponents, they doubled or tripled up on them, according to a POLITICO review of new Federal Election Commission filings submitted late on Wednesday.

Nowhere quite matches Texas, where Democratic state Rep. James Talarico brought in a whopping $27 million over the full quarter and had just shy of $10 million cash on hand, while incumbent GOP Sen. John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton raised less than half of that combined and continue to spend against each other as they duke it out ahead of next month’s runoff.

In Georgia, Sen. Jon Ossoff raised $14 million in the first quarter and had $31.7 million in the bank at the end of March, while his top-raising potential GOP opponent barely cracked $1 million.

In North Carolina, former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper outraised former Republican National Committee chair Michael Whatley $13.8 million to $5 million in the last three months and heads into the general election with $18.5 million in the bank, compared to $2.5 million for Whatley.

In Ohio, former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown raised $10 million compared to $2.9 million for GOP Sen. John Husted, and had just shy of $16.5 million in the bank compared to $6 million for the newly appointed incumbent.

In Alaska, former Rep. Mary Pelota’s campaign reported $8.7 million raised in her first quarter, compared to $1.7 million for GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan, though Sullivan has just over $7 million in the bank compared to $5.7 million for his Democratic challenger.

And while Florida hasn’t been a swing state in recent years, former national security adviser Alexander Vindman raised more than $8 million compared to $2.6 million for incumbent GOP Sen. Ashley Moody, although Moody still had more cash on hand, $7.1 million to $6.4 million.

Things didn’t look so rosy for Democrats in states where they have contested primaries, however. In Maine, Sen. Susan Collins raised $3 million in the first quarter, short of Graham Platner’s $4.1 million raised, but the incumbent had $10 million in the bank compared to $2.7 million for the oysterman and just over $1 million for Gov. Janet Mills. Notably, Platner and Mills’ combined fundraising still didn’t match what 2020 Maine Senate candidate Sara Gideon raised in the first quarter of that year, a potential warning sign for Democrats in a must-win race.

In Michigan, former GOP Rep. Mike Rogers was outraised by two of his three potential Democratic opponents, but still had greater cash on hand than all of them as the Democrats have spent more during their competitive primary. And in Iowa, Rep. Ashley Hinson, who is running for Senate, outraised both Democratic contenders, Zach Wahls and Josh Turek, and has $6.5 million in the bank.

All of that campaign cash could soon be drowned out by super PAC money: The Republican-leadership aligned SLF brought in a whopping $72 million in the first quarter and sits with $166 million cash on hand, while its Democratic counterpart SMP brought in $56 million in the first quarter and had just shy of $75 million in the bank.