Senate Democrats' fundraising success puts GOP on defensive

Buoyed by massive fundraising success, Democratic Senate candidates are mounting a push in Republican states that few would have thought possible just a few months ago, placing continued GOP control of chamber at risk.

In South Carolina, Sen. Lindsey Graham's challenger, Democrat Jaime Harrison, shattered fundraising records when he anunced on Sunday a $57 million haul for quarter that ended in September. MJ Hegar in Texas reported raising over $13 million during same period for her race against Republican Sen. John Cornyn. In deep-red Kentucky, Amy McGrath has posted strong fundraising numbers against Senate Majority Leer Mitch McConnell. In Mississippi, Mike Espy reported raising $4 million in his rematch against Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith.

windfall speaks to energy coursing through a restive Democratic base that hopes t only to oust President Donald Trump, but also to flip control of Senate, where Republicans have a 53-47 majority. That will be key for Democratic presidential minee Joe Biden to enact his nda, if he wins.

But flood of money flowing to high-profile Senate candidates is so large, it's t at all clear recipients will have time to spend it. That may invertently short low-profile states and candidates who may t en same fervor from party activists and could use an infusion of resources. And since much of it is coming from dors outside ir states, it's an imperfect measure of candidates' chances — especially in red states.

“For Jamie Harrison and Amy McGrath, money can buy you a lot of TV vertising,” said Josh Holmes, a Republican strategist and McConnell viser. “But y are never going to have eugh money to buy ar 2 million liberal voters in South Carolina and Kentucky.”

cautionary tale for se candidates is Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke, who in 2018 raised a record-breaking $80 million for his losing Senate campaign against Republican incumbent Ted Cruz, who was widely reviled by liberal activists and dors. O'Rourke was criticized for being too stingy with his cash, only reluctantly aiding or Democrats, though he eventually donated large amounts to Texas Democratic Party.

That's a position Harrison could soon find himself in. Public polling shows he's locked in a tight race against Graham, a staunch defender of Trump's who is leing Senate confirmation hearings for Supreme Court minee Amy Coney Barrett this week. Barrett is conservative appellate court judge Trump picked to replace liberal justice Ruth Ber Ginsburg.

In days after Ginsburg's death last month, over $100 million flooded in through ActBlue, Democrats' fundraising platform, with Harrison garnering a large chunk.

Harrison's campaign manr, Zack Carroll, said plan is to use “every dollar donated” for s, digital organizing and communication.

But with TV largely saturated, re are limited avenues for him to productively spend such a massive sum of money with just three weeks left before election.

“I don’t think Jaime Harrison can spend $57 million in next couple weeks. But that’s t his fault,” said Jefrey Pollock, a Democratic pollster who is working on eight Senate races. “At some point y’ll start sending that money to or places or spending down ballot.”

same could apply for McGrath, who is fighting an uphill battle against Senate Majority Leer Mitch McConnell in Kentucky. She has yet to release her most recent fundraising figures, which must be me public by Thursday, but has pulled in $47 million this cycle as of July 1.

Democrats dismiss such concerns and say re's such thing as too much money. Plus, y argue, wild success some have enjoyed has warped perceptions about what is needed.

“All of se challengers are doing well, and it’s hard to find a spot where Democrats are struggling at this point,” said Stewart Boss, a spokesperson for Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

money to Democrats has heightened a sense of dre among Republicans. y've watched as developments this year — including a global pandemic, a faltering ecomy and president's diagsis of COVID-19 — have expanded map of competitive races.

Money has washed up in predictable races where Democrats are mostly outspending Republicans, including Iowa, Michigan, Maine, rth Carolina, Georgia and Arizona.

In Montana, estimated $131 million that will be spent on vertising in Senate race between Republican Sen. Steve Daines and outgoing Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock translates to about $122 for every state resident.

But money is also trickling down to once unthinkable states, including Kansas, Alaska and Mississippi, forcing Republican outside groups to spend money playing defense, according to data from tracking firm Kantar/CMAG.

Senate Leership Fund, a super PAC with ties to McConnell, is projected to spend about $14 million in Kansas to boost Republican Rep. Roger Marshall, who is being outspent nearly 4-to-1 by Republican-turned-Democrat Barbara Bollier. In Alaska, group has gone up with $1 million in vertising boosting first-term Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, who was being outspent by his independent challenger Al Gross.

In Texas, though, Hegar is slated to be outspent by Cornyn, barring ar infusion of vertising dollars.

“Everything is really close. And that’s t great news for Republicans,” said Holmes, McConnell viser. “re’s just an awful lot of combinations Democrats could have to take majority."

For Democrats, torrent of resources is allowing m to get creative.

Harrison is t only inundating TV with vertising, but in conjunction with state party, he's also run digital s calling a third-party candidate on ballot “too conservative” for South Carolina, even though Constitution Party candidate Bill Bledsoe has endorsed Graham and is longer campaigning. ploy is aimed at depriving Graham of some votes from conservatives.

In Maine, where vulnerable Republican moderate Sen. Susan Collins is being challenged by Democrat Sara Gideon, state Democratic Party has paid for “Trump Collins 2020” yard signs in ir push to link Collins to president. race has similarly shattered state spending records, with an influx of cash from both sides that's expected to reach at least $106 million.

n re's McGrath. Flush with cash, her campaign has paid for slickly produced “Swamp Turtle" cartoon s that portray McConnell as a denizen of entrenched Washington interests that Trump ran against in 2016.

“Amy McGrath is just lighting money on fire," Matt Jones, a Kentucky rio host who briefly considered jumping in race as a Democrat, tweeted in response.

This story has t been edited by www.republicworld.com and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.