Republicans have long been frustrated that a handful of candidates in tight races who could afford to loan their campaigns more of their own money had not done so.

A few of those GOP nominees changed that during the third quarter that ended Sept. 30, dipping into their personal resources to give their campaigns a cash infusion. Fundraising report filings were due Monday at midnight.

Indiana’s Mike Braun, the GOP nominee for Senate against Democratic incumbent Joe Donnelly, loaned his primary campaign more than $6 million. That self-funding allowed the former state representative to blanket the airwaves with ads touting himself as an outsider businessman and defeat two congressmen in the GOP primary. But after securing the nomination in May, Braun’s personal funding slowed and Republican operatives worried about him being outspent on the airwaves for part of the summer. He loaned his campaign only $984,000 during the second quarter that ended June 30.

Braun seems to have gotten the message. He dropped another near $2.4 million into his campaign coffers during the third quarter. Excluding that loan, he raised about $3.3 million during the same period, ending Sept. 30 with $1.9 million in the bank. Donnelly raised nearly $3.1 million (without any loans) in the third quarter and finished with $4.5 million on hand. Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rates the race a Toss-up.

In Ohio, GOP Rep. James B. Renacci is taking on two-term Democrat Sherrod Brown in a Likely Democratic race. For much of this year, Republican strategists had been hoping that Renacci, one of the wealthiest members of Congress, would put more of his own money into his campaign.