Fundraising hauls show RNC vastly outpacing Democrats ahead of midterm elections

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican National Committee has vastly outpaced Democrats in the crush for cash ahead of the midterm elections, holding a nearly $100 million advantage at the close of 2025, according to year-end filings to the Federal Election Commission.

As Democrats have struggled in the Trump era, the RNC tallied $172 million raised in 2025, with $95 million cash on hand at year’s end. In contrast, the Democratic National Committee posted $145 million for the year, with $14 million on hand — and $17 million in debt, to start the new year underwater.

It’s all pointing to a turbulent election cycle ahead as President Donald Trump fights political headwinds that tend to brush back the party in power, in this case Republican control of the White House and both chambers of Congress, and reward challengers during the midterms.

In the campaigns for control of Congress, the total hauls are less stark. House Republicans posted one of their stronger years, raising $13 million in the last month of the year, to close with more than $117 million for the National Republican Congressional Committee, the main campaign arm. House Democrats trailed slightly at $115 million.

Both of the House committees started 2026 with about $50 million cash on hand, according to the filings, which were due to the FEC this weekend. A similar dynamic is playing out in the Senate.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday the GOP’s overall fundraising haul left him “bullish” on the party’s chances to not only hold onto their razor-thin majority in the House, but grow it with more members.

“We’re going to have a war chest to run on,” Johnson, R-La., said on “Fox News Sunday.”

To be sure, the fundraising totals reflect the 2025 calendar year, before the onslaught of actions and events that have scrambled the nation’s politics in the first month of the new year.

From the U.S. military attack on Venezuela to the shooting deaths of two Americans protesting the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement actions in Minneapolis, it’s not at all certain whether voters — and donors — will undergo lasting shifts in their attitudes toward the political parties.

“Momentum is on our side,” said Viet Shelton, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which supports the House Democrats.

He said the Republicans are “running scared” because the Democrats have better candidates and a better message for voters as the party tries to wrest back control of the House.

In the Senate, the National Republican Senatorial Committee raised $88 million in 2025, closing out the year with $19.3 million cash on hand. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee raised $79.8 million, but ended up slightly better with $21.7 million cash on hand.