Reps. Angie Craig (D-MN) and Elissa Slotkin (D-MI). Both 1st term members have proven themselves to be strong fundraisers.

Incumbent House Democrats in dozens of competitive races have a significant edge over their Republican challengers as they receive large PAC contributions ahead of November’s elections.

Of the 42 vulnerable seats identified by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, 34 of the candidates raised double that of their top Republican opponent, OpenSecrets’ analysis found.

House Democrats are boosted by PACs, which typically give to the incumbent. The 42 candidates identified raised a total of $24.7 million from PACs, while their GOP challengers received just $2.9 million combined from such groups.

Of the identified candidates, 33 reported raising over $2 million with their challengers lagging far behind. House Democrats have a significant cash advantage as the coronavirus pandemic is expected to slow down fundraising in the run up to the Nov. 3 election. The comfortable edge is helped by significant PAC contributions in many cases, even more than small donors who contribute significantly to House Democrats’ funds.

GOP challengers are relying on large individual contributions that make a significant chunk of their total fundraising numbers compared to Democratic incumbents who received lesser funds from those giving over $200.

Some of the Democrats pledged to refuse corporate PAC money. Last year, Reps. Max Rose (D-N.Y.) and Josh Harder (D-Calif.) introduced legislation that would put an end to corporate PACs. A sizable amount of PAC money going to House Democrats comes from lawmakers’ campaign committees and leadership PACs, which are often funded by corporate PACs. Some freshman candidates are rejecting corporate PACs but taking PAC money from other business interests.

Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) brought in 17 times more campaign funds with $2.7 million than her likely challenger, Tyler Kistner, who raised just over $157,000. Thirty-five percent of Craig’s funding comes from PACs.

Meanwhile, over half of Rep. Steven Horsford’s (D-Nev.) $1.8 million and 47 percent Rep. Tom O’Halleran’s (D-Arizona) $1.6 million came from PACs. Similarly, Reps. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.), Jahana Hayes (D-Conn.), Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) and Susan Wild (D-Pa.) — who each raised over $1 million — got more than a quarter of their funds from PACs while their opponents reported raising less than $500,000 each.

Competitive races in several California districts are driving PACs to pour money into candidates’ campaigns. Rep. TJ Cox in the 21st District has a narrow edge over his Republican challengers and received 30 percent funding from PACs, while District 39’s Rep. Gil Cisneros got 33 percent.

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Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) has raised almost four times more than the seven-person GOP field eyeing the nomination. Gottheimer reported raising $4.3 million, 23 percent of which came from PACs.

O’Halleran, Gottheimer, Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-Penn.) and Rep. Conor Lamb (D-Pa.) are the only ones on the DCCC list who aren’t freshmen.

House Democrats in competitive races raised $663,000 on an average in the first quarter, while their GOP challengers raised nearly $158,000, Roll Call reported.

Four of the freshman lawmakers — Rep’s Katie Porter (D-Calif.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Harder and Rose are now among the top 20 House candidates with most cash on hand, surpassing long-serving incumbents and senior leaders from both sides of the aisle, Politico reported.

Almost all candidates identified as part of DCCC’s Frontline program – meant to mainly boost vulnerable freshman incumbents — now sit on comfortable cash reserves. So it could be an uphill task for Republicans to flip the House, particularly in battleground seats where the committee plans to extend additional support to candidates. Cook Political Report identifies 17 seats as toss ups and the GOP will need to win a net gain of at least 18 seats to win back the majority it lost in the Demoratic wave of 2018.

“Our Majority hinges on these Members from tough seats winning reelection in 2020,” DCCC Chairwoman Cheri Bustos said in her statement. “We’re sending a clear message that the DCCC will stand shoulder to shoulder with them in the fight ahead.”

According to recent filings with the Federal Election Commission, the DCCC has raised $168.4 million this election cycle and has $80.7 million cash on hand compared to the NRCC’s $124.4 million with $48.8 million in its cash reserves.

“We knew from the beginning we were probably going to be outspent. It doesn’t seem like that’s going to change anytime soon,” National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Michael McAdams told The Hill. “Our focus is keeping it close, and in November, we’ll know if we kept it close enough to take back the House.”

Researcher Doug Weber contributed to this report.



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