The Republican Fundraising Funk

Key GOP Senate candidates are lagging Democrats in the midterm cash dash.

By David Catanese, Senior Politics Writer |Feb. 2, 2018, at 10:33 a.m.

Sen. Dean Heller of Nevada, the chamber's most endangered Republican incumbent, raised only about half of what his Democratic challenger, Rep. Jacky Rosen, did.

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas was bested by his long-shot opponent, Rep. Beto O'Rourke, by half a million dollars.

And the GOP's top recruit of the cycle and a favorite of the White House -- Josh Hawley -- failed to clear a million dollars in his challenge to Sen. Claire McCaskill in Missouri.

In the stack of year-end fundraising totals that set expectations for the 2018 midterm campaign, key Republican Senate candidates are lagging. While there's ample time to recover in the coming months, fourth quarter cash receipts reflect robust Democratic enthusiasm and the chilling effect of GOP primaries that will consume many of their candidates well into the spring and summer months.

"After winning in Alabama, it's clear that Democratic donors are excited to invest in quality candidates no matter how red the state is. On the other hand, a large portion of the Republican base is unimpressed and downright hostile towards the Republican Congress," says Chris Hayden, a spokesman for Senate Majority PAC, the top Democratic super PAC.

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