House Democrats raised $19.3 million in February, a committee record
The campaign arm for House Democrats raised $19.3 million in February, beating the committee's personal record for the month by $2.3 million, according to numbers first shared with CBS News. This record comes as the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee faces an intimidating midterm election in November, with Republicans within just single digits of retaking control of the chamber.
A portion of the DCCC's haul, $5 million, comes from the Democratic National Committee as part of a $15 million dollar commitment equally split between the DCCC and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. It also includes 250,000 individual grassroots donors who contributed $7 million, with the remaining coming from higher level donors or member dues.
The DCCC has slightly led in the fundraising raise with their counterparts at the National Republican Congressional Committee this cycle. The DCCC out-raised the NRCC by less than $300,000 in January, though House Democrats raised $6.3 million more than their GOP counterparts in all of 2021, according to a CBS News analysis.
House Democrats entered March with $99.2 million cash on hand. House Republicans reported about $82 million cash on hand as of their January filing.
The NRCC had not yet reported their numbers for February. During a House Republican political meeting on Wednesday, Congressional leadership and other rank-and-file House Republicans pledged a $19.3 million contribution to the NRCC this cycle, as first reported by Punchbowl News.
In a statement about their numbers, DCCC chair and Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney of New York said Democrats "are delivering on an agenda that tackles the real problems facing Americans, while Republicans continue to stroke division for political gain."
"The American people resoundingly reject Republicans' extremist agenda for their families and our voters are stepping up in force to protect our progress in Washington," he said.
Earlier this month at a House Democratic issues conference in Philadelphia, Maloney was confident his most vulnerable members would have the funds needed for their reelections but said House Republican outside groups have also been raising money well and can provide "significant resources."
The Congressional Leadership Fund, a central House GOP-backed outside group, raised $110 million in 2021, nearly double the amount of the Democratic House Majority PAC who brought in $55 million.
"We take that very seriously," Maloney said in Philadelphia, but noted vulnerable "Frontline" House Democrats have an $80 million dollar cash on hand advantage compared to their Republican challengers, who are currently stuck in primaries.
"That is an eye-popping statistic that I don't think anybody understands," he said. "It's not just that we have battle-tested candidates… it's that they are in a cash flush position because of their hard work. That, I think, is a function of Republican overconfidence."
Ellis Kim contributed reporting.