House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi raised $49.5 million for Democrats in 2017, as the party looks to harness Mrs. Pelosi’s fundraising skills to flip enough seats and re-take control of the House after the 2018 midterms.

Mrs. Pelosi raised nearly all of that total — $47.6 million — for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), and held more than 200 fundraising events in 43 cities, her political team announced Monday. She raised $10.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2017.

In 2015, the last off-year period, Mrs. Pelosi raised $40.1 million.

Mrs. Pelosi’s largesse boosted the DCCC’s 2017 fundraising total to $105 million. That was $20 million better than the money raised by the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), House Republicans’ campaign arm, though the NRCC finished the year with $43.6 million on hand to the DCCC’s $38.9 million.

Democrats need to flip two dozen seats to win back control of the House of Representatives this year.

House Republicans have made it clear that they intend to feature Mrs. Pelosi prominently in their effort to preserve the GOP’s majority, saying she can be as powerful a motivator for their side as President Trump is shaping up to be for the Democrats.

Mrs. Pelosi said last year she’s “worth the trouble,” and that the reason Republicans devote so many resources to “demonizing” her is because she’s an effective leader.

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