Five takeaways from new Senate fundraising reports

Vulnerable Senate incumbents are seeing an influx of cash as they build up their campaign bank accounts ahead of tough races in the 2018 midterm elections.

Senate Democrats in particular have kept up their high-dollar fundraising, with the party defending 10 seats in places that President Trump carried in November.

Meanwhile, Democratic challengers are also posting strong fundraising quarters that are on track with Republican incumbents’ figures. But GOP primary challengers looking to take on their party’s incumbents are still behind as they mount upstart challenges.

Here are five takeaways from Senate incumbents’ and challengers’ third quarter fundraising reports:

Vulnerable incumbents still raking in millions

Vulnerable incumbents, particularly Democrats, are continuing to build on their significant fundraising hauls from previous quarters. 

{mosads}Four vulnerable Senate Democrats topped $2 million, with Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) leading the pack with $2.9 million raised in the third quarter. She raised the second-most of any Senate incumbent or candidate, trailing Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) by less than $50,000.

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) raised $2.6 million, while Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) raised $2.4 million and Sen. Bob Casey Jr. (D-Pa.) brought in $2.2 million.

While Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) has yet to announce whether or not he’ll run for the upper chamber against Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Nelson still raised nearly $1.8 million. Sens. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.) each raised more than $1 million.

Vulnerable GOP incumbents are also raking in cash, even as they face primary challenges and tough general elections down the road. Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) raised $1.17 million, while Sen. Jeff Flake’s (R-Ariz.) raised $1.1 million, according to Washington Examiner. 

Dem challengers outraising or keeping pace with GOP incumbents

Unseating an incumbent is always a tough feat, since they typically have fundraising advantages and better name recognition. But many Democratic challengers are keeping up with their incumbent GOP rivals. 

Heller was narrowly outpaced by his likely Democratic opponent, Rep. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), who pulled in $1.19 million, according to Las Vegas Review-Journal. Heller still maintains a substantial cash on hand advantage of about $3 million.

Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), who is running to unseat Flake, raised $1.08 million, which was slightly behind the GOP senator’s haul. But Sinema has a larger balance, nearly $4.2 million compared with Flake’s $3.4 million.

While Texas isn’t seen as having a competitive race, Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-Texas) likely Democratic competitor is still raising money at a high clip. Cruz, who raised $1.76 million, outpaced Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas), but only by about $52,000. The Texas GOP senator still has a larger cash advantage with nearly $3 million more in his campaign account.

Alabama Dem sees influx of cash, lags in polls

Alabama’s Senate seat is expected to remain in GOP hands, but after former judge Roy Moore advanced out of the GOP runoff, Democrats are mulling whether they have a chance in the deep-red state.

Moore, who was suspended twice as a state Supreme Court chief justice, filed a pre-runoff fundraising report where he raised more than $960,000 between the end of July and early September. He ended with $285,000 in his campaign account on Sept. 6.

His Democratic opponent, Doug Jones, had low sums of money prior to the Democratic primary, but has seen a surge in donations as Democrats eye the seat. The former U.S. attorney raised more than $1.3 million from the end of July to the end of September. He has $1 million cash on hand.

Polls have shown Moore leading Jones by a single-digit margin, but a recent Fox News poll has been an outlier, with the two candidates tied.

Moore will have the chance to boost his fundraising with a Washington fundraiser in early November with headliners including Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah), who recently endorsed him.

Fundraising gives candidates edge in crowded primaries 

Primary season won’t start until next year, but fundraising could help elevate some candidates in crowded primaries.

In Indiana, GOP Rep. Luke Messer raised about $734,000, compared with GOP Rep. Todd Rokita, who raised about $433,000. Messer has a slight cash on hand advantage, but has a debt of about $93,000. This comes after Rokita outpaced Messer nearly 2-to-1 in the last fundraising quarter. Republican Mark Hurt is way behind with only $3,067 cash on hand.

In Montana, state auditor Matt Rosendale (R) raised more than $413,000, while businessman Troy Downing raised more than $311,000. Rosendale has the backing of Great America Alliance (GAA), the pro-Trump outside group with ties to former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon. State Sen. Al Olszewski (R) was further behind with about $127,000. Retired Judge Russell Fagg announced this month and won’t need to file a fundraising report for the third quarter. 

In West Virginia, GOP Rep. Evan Jenkins hauled in about $220,000, but it remains to be seen how much state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey (R) has raised. Morrisey could receive a bump now that he’s endorsed by GAA.

All GOP candidates are behind in fundraising compared with the Democratic senators they’re trying to unseat.

Insurgent candidates lagging in cash amid challenges to incumbents

Bannon has vowed to play in GOP primaries, which could give them an extra boost in trying to unseat incumbents. So far, these upstart candidates underperformed against the incumbents when it comes to fundraising.

In Arizona, former state Sen. Kelli Ward (R) raised just shy of $700,000 this quarter, a sizable uptick from her previous fundraising. But Ward, who unsuccessfully ran against Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) last year, ends September with less than $300,000 in her campaign account. That’ll be tough to compete with Flake in the primary or Sinema in the general election, each of whom has millions in their accounts.