The FEC reports that the Republican National Committee has $5 million in the bank and $2 million in debt. RNC has just $5M for final push

The Republican National Committee has just over $5 million in the bank for the final stretch of the 2010 midterm election campaign, according to an unannounced filing with the FEC disclosed Friday night.

The report also indicates that the national party headed by embattled chairman Michael Steele is carrying just over $2 million in debt.


There was no press release from the RNC attempting to put a positive spin on the grim numbers. Rather, officials from the Democratic National Committee flagged the RNC's report, which was posted on the Federal Election Commission’s website Friday night.

It indicated that the committee brought in slightly more than $5.5 million in July — less than half of what the DNC raised — while spending $11 million.

The RNC's money woes have many party leaders and operatives deeply worried about whether the GOP will be able to take full advantage of an otherwise promising election cycle. Of most concern are get-out- the-vote activities that are typically funded by the national committee. While the RNC OK’d a $10 million line-of-credit at its meeting earlier this month, that will still be insufficient to fund the sort of voter contact efforts needed across the House, Senate, gubernatorial and local races this year. Senior Republicans are expecting newly created third-party groups such as American Crossroads to step in and assist with the ground game.

The DNC released its July fundraising numbers earlier this week, reporting that it had just over $10.8 million on hand while carrying $3.5 million in debt.

The RNC’s struggles come as other Republican committees show signs of momentum. The National Republican Congressional Committee outraised its counterpart, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, $8.5 million to $6.2 million in July. The DCCC, however, has a little less than $36 million in the bank while the NRCC has about $22 million. The National Republican Senatorial Committee appears to be closing the cash gap, raising $4.2 million to the Democratic committee’s $4.4 million in July. These committees each have more than $20 million heading into the fall. Meantime, the Republican Governors Association has about $40 million to spend on the fall elections, significantly more than its Democratic counterpart.

RNC spokesman Doug Heye noted that the DNC raised just over $5 million in July 2006 before Democrats captured control of Congress.

And of the $5.5 million in July receipts, $900,000 came from a lump sum insurance settlement. So the party actually raised $4.6 million for the month. Heye only confirmed the pay-out and didn't offer any details on what it was regarding.