Several outside GOP groups raised record-setting numbers for the upcoming midterm elections, USA Today reported Monday.
Republican groups allied with Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) amassed $31.6 million in 2017, the newspaper said, noting the record for an off-cycle year. The groups include the Senate Leadership Fund, One Nation, Crossroads GPS and American Crossroads.
“We start this cycle better prepared than we ever have been,” Steven Law, the CEO of American Crossroads, told the newspaper.
{mosads}The fundraising total comes as Republicans prepare to defend eight Senate seats in this year’s midterm elections. Historically, the president’s party typically loses seats in midterms.
Law also dismissed the threats coming from former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon, who pledged to challenge the Republican establishment in the midterms and put up primary challengers against incumbent GOP senators.
“Contrary to the brief and loud boasts of one Mr. Stephen K. Bannon, our donors were never especially attracted to his rhetoric and nor were they anything but supportive of our mission,” Law told the newspaper.