The success of Democratic women has defined the 2018 Congressional primaries above all else. Women won major party House nominations at a record rate—28 percent—a feat driven mainly by Democrats. 42 percent of the Democratic House winners were women, shattering previous records. Notably, women make up nearly half of the Democratic House primary winners who are not incumbents. Women had similar success in the Senate primaries, with a significant increase coming from Democratic nominees. A record fifteen Democratic women and seven Republican women were nominated for their party’s ticket in November.

If we consider fundraising for House primary winners, some interesting patterns emerge. Democratic men have raised $1,117,918 on average in the 2018 primaries. By comparison, Democratic women have raised $828,866. However, the average amount of money raised by the Republican primary winners does not fall as evenly on gender lines. Republican women have raised slightly more on average than Republican men. On average, Republican women primary winners raised $1,118,743 while Republican male primary winners raised $1,023,162. Republican men have raised relatively little from small individual donors compared to other candidates—only $59,364 on average.

Among non-incumbent Democrats, men on average have raised more than women. Although nearly half of the Democratic non-incumbent House nominees are women this cycle—49.8 percent—these candidates have raised only 44.1 percent of the total amount of money going towards non-incumbent Democratic candidates. However, both have raised far more than non-incumbent Republicans. Likewise, Democratic non-incumbents have out-raised Republican non-incumbents considerably, particularly from small individual donors. Democratic non-incumbent House female nominees raised $741,674 on average compared to Republican non-incumbent House male nominees, who raised $392,903 on average. That is to say, the trends are as tied to party as they are gender.

Looking at the House incumbents who won their primaries, Democratic men continue to outraise Democratic women and Democratic incumbents are much less reliant on small individual donors than non-incumbent nominees. Curiously, incumbent Republican women have outraised everyone else by a wide margin—$2,406,758 on average. However, they make up less than 10 percent of all Republican House incumbents seeking re-election. A sizeable number of the re-election races for Republican women were competitive, which could explain the high levels of fundraising.

All House Primary Winners

Candidate Type Candidate Count Avg Raised Avg Spent Avg Large Indivs Avg Small Indivs % Small Indivs Democratic Men 243 $1,117,918 $712,271 $522,826 $157,403 14% Democratic Women 181 $828,866 $516,917 $469,058 $142,733 17% Republican Men 302 $1,023,162 $604,819 $427,010 $59,364 6% Republican Women 45 $1,118,743 $753,356 $483,218 $151,298 14%

All Nonincumbent House Primary Winners

Candidate Type Candidate Count Avg Raised Avg Spent Avg Large Indivs Avg Small Indivs % Small Indivs Democratic Men 125 $939,623 $603,162 $457,598 $182,127 19% Democratic Women 127 $741,674 $419,485 $473,688 $158,719 21% Republican Men 125 $392,903 $255,860 $213,165 $26,649 7% Republican Women 28 $336,734 $237,038 $213,141 $15,969 5%

All Incumbent House Primary Winners

Candidate Type Candidate Count Avg Raised Avg Spent Avg Large Indivs Avg Small Indivs % Small Indivs Democratic Men 118 $1,306,790 $827,853 $591,923 $131,212 10% Democratic Women 54 $1,033,927 $746,060 $458,167 $105,136 10% Republican Men 177 $1,468,261 $851,260 $578,030 $82,468 6% Republican Women 17 $2,406,758 $1,603,762 $928,050 $374,192 16%

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There is less to be said with certainty about Senate nominees due to the much smaller number of candidates. Democratic women have outraised Democratic men and have raised a higher percentage from small donors, due largely to the incumbents in this cycle. Republican men have outraised Republican women, however, only a small percentage of the Republican Senate candidates are women and the majority of the incumbents are men.

All Senate Primary Winners

Candidate Type Candidate Count Avg Raised Avg Spent Avg Large Indivs Avg Small Indivs % Small Indivs Democratic Men 19 $9,988,325 $4,920,773 $5,625,330 $1,784,813 18% Democratic Women 15 $12,308,015 $7,880,188 $5,942,730 $3,515,116 29% Republican Men 23 $6,007,757 $4,092,469 $2,195,144 $556,624 9% Republican Women 7 $3,763,406 $2,123,452 $2,094,910 $509,149 14%

All Non-incumbent Senate Primary Winners

Candidate Type Candidate Count Avg Raised Avg Spent Avg Large Indivs Avg Small Indivs % Small Indivs Democratic Men 6 $5,751,308 $2,893,751 $3,334,042 $1,742,458 30% Democratic Women 4 $5,411,986 $4,266,367 $3,067,275 $1,197,460 22% Republican Men 19 $4,818,374 $3,451,921 $1,603,377 $296,544 6% Republican Women 6 $3,465,447 $1,992,449 $2,040,615 $551,986 16%

All Incumbent Senate Primary Winners

Candidate Type Candidate Count Avg Raised Avg Spent Avg Large Indivs Avg Small Indivs % Small Indivs Democratic Men 13 $11,943,871 $5,856,322 $6,682,847 $1,804,361 15% Democratic Women 11 $14,815,662 $9,194,305 $6,988,350 $4,357,900 29% Republican Men 4 $11,657,331 $7,135,071 $5,006,035 $1,792,004 15% Republican Women 1 $5,551,157 $2,909,471 $2,420,676 $252,124 5%

Looking at itemized individual contributions to House primary winners, women favor Democrats over Republicans and have been particularly willing to support Democratic women. Female Democratic House nominees received 43 percent of their individual contributions from women, higher than any other category. Female donors also favor Democratic men over Republican women, both in total dollars and by percentage. If we break out incumbents and non-incumbents, the Democratic gender gap for campaign contributions is actually greater for incumbents than it is for non-incumbents. As with the summary figures, Democratic non-incumbents outraised Republican non-incumbents but the difference is particularly striking for contributions from women.

Although Democratic women candidates have been at a disadvantage in fundraising compared to their male peers, they have succeeded thus far with the support of female donors. While the focus has been on the success of Democratic women, the money shows how well Democrats, in general, have performed in the 2018 primaries. Democratic men ran in large numbers and were generously funded—by both male and female donors. Given the strong competition within the Democratic party, the success of women this cycle is that much more impressive.



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