Democratic candidates outspent their republican rivals in during the first two week of October in closely contested Senate race in US.
According to a recent Federal Election Commission filings, Democrats spent more than three times as much as their their GOP opponents during this critical period of the election in states like Ohio, Montana and Michigan.
According to a report in Politico, Despite facing a challenging Senate map, Democrats have benefited from this financial edge, enabling them to allocate significant resources to defend multiple states.
Colin Allred, who is running against GOP Senator Ted Cruz in Texas, raised an impressive $11.3 million in just 16 days, surpassing Cruz’s $9.9 million. Cruz, however, was the highest-raising Republican senator and the only GOP candidate in a high-profile race to outspend his rival.
Vulnerable Democratic incumbents Jon Tester in Montana and Sherrod Brown in Ohio raised $9 million and $7.8 million, respectively, while their Republican challengers only brought in $2.3 million and $1.9 million. This fundraising advantage allowed the Democratic incumbents to maintain a higher cash balance for the final days of the campaign, even after substantial spending in recent weeks, Politico reported.
In Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, Democratic Senate candidates also raised at least three times more than their Republican opponents in the first half of October. Meanwhile, in Nebraska, independent candidate Dan Osborn raised just over $3 million compared to incumbent GOP Sen. Deb Fischer’s $560,000, making the race unexpectedly competitive and prompting last-minute defensive spending from national Republicans.
To counter Democrats’ financial advantage, Republicans have depended heavily on outside groups to support their candidates in competitive states. For example, the Senate Leadership Fund, the largest Republican super PAC, recently started spending in Nevada, reflecting growing optimism about Sam Brown’s challenge to Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen.
Additionally, Republicans have utilized innovative fundraising strategies, such as a joint fundraising committee affiliated with GOP candidate Tim Sheehy in Montana, which spent over $1 million on advertising in early October, exploiting a campaign finance law loophole to reduce Tester’s cash advantage.