DCCC outraised NRCC by $15M in 2013

House Republicans were outraised by their Democratic campaign counterparts by more than $15 million during 2013. 

According to numbers provided first to The Hill, the National Republican Congressional Committee raised $60.6 million last year — significantly less than the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s record-breaking $75.8 million haul they announced earlier this week. 

{mosads}Thanks to the fundraising disparity, the DCCC also starts the 2014 election cycle with an $8 million edge in the bank. Democrats ended the year with $29.3 million cash on hand compared to the NRCC’s $21 million. Neither committee carries any debt. 

The NRCC was also outraised by the Democrats’ campaign arm during December: Republicans pulled in $4.2 million compared to the DCCC’s $5.6 million. Last month’s numbers for the GOP were a slight uptick from the NRCC’s $4 million they raised in November. 

The sizeable cash advantage gives Democrats hope going into a difficult midterm cycle, but even money may not be enough. Democrats need to flip 17 seats to regain control of the House, a tough task with fewer competitive seats in a year when the president’s party typically loses ground. 

But Democrats have seen new opportunities put on the board by moderate GOP retirements in swing seats in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia — all in expensive media markets where the DCCC’s sizable money edge over the GOP could be crucial when it comes time to make ad buys and reserve early ad time at a cheaper rate.

Democrats have also suffered brutal retirement setbacks after Blue Dog Democrats Jim Matheson (Utah) and Mike McIntyre (N.C.) called it quits. Their Republican-leaning seats are all but certain to go to the GOP now, though both were in less-expensive media markets. 

Still, Republicans point out that there’s good news for them in the numbers. They ended the off-year with $5.8 million more cash on hand than they had in 2011 and also raised $6 million more than this time last year. Democrats similarly boasted, though, that they have $18 million more in the bank than they did at this time last cycle. In 2012, Democrats picked up eight seats after devastating 2010 losses.