Democratic congressional candidates combined have raised more than $1 billion this election cycle, underscoring an investment in flipping control of the House and Senate in next months midterms.
A Washington Post review of Federal Election Commission records found that Democratic candidates raised $1.06 billion through the end of September. The figure surpassed the previous high of roughly $900 million given to Republican congressional candidates in 2012.
It also marks the first time since 2008 that Democrats have outraised Republicans in direct contributions to candidates, even as the Republican National Committee (RNC) has significantly outpeformed the fundraising total of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in the current election cycle.
{mosads}Republicans candidates this year have received $709 million through September, The Washington Post found.
Democrats need to flip 23 seats in the House to reclaim a majority there, and must pick up two seats in the Senate to take the majority in the upper chamber.
The party in power typically loses seats in a midterm election year, and Democrats have maintained a steady lead over the GOP in generic congressional polls.
A RealClearPolitics average of those polls shows Democrats with a 7.1-point lead over Republicans.
Polls also show Democrats with an edge in voter enthusiasm, though Republicans argue their turnout will be buoyed by the recent confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
A Reuters–Ipsos poll published late last month found that the number of Democrats who said they will likely vote this year increased by 9 percentage points compared to the same poll in 2014, while the number of Republicans who said they would vote in 2018 decreased by 3 percentage points relative to 2014.