A Record Number of Democratic Challengers Are Outraising GOP Opponents
For the November 2018 vote, the party’s candidates are hoping to ride a green wave of cash.
Democrats are hoping a blue wave of support will carry them to victory in this fall’s elections. In the meantime, they’ve caught a green wave of cash—the torrent of money pouring into Democratic campaign coffers helped 73 House candidates outraise Republican incumbents and opponents in races for open seats in the second quarter, a Bloomberg analysis of Federal Election Commission data shows. The more candidates the Democrats can field with the means to run competitive races, the larger the potential blue wave could be, if, as most experts anticipate, a motivated anti-Trump electorate shows up to vote in November. Democrats need to pick up 23 seats to retake control of the House.
The surge of Democrats who raised more money than their GOP opponents last quarter is testimony not only to widespread antipathy to Trump among liberals and many independents, but also to the fundraising acumen of the party committee and many of the new grass-roots groups that sprang up in the wake of Trump’s victory.