Senate Democrats facing tough re-election battles can look to one bright spot: sizable fundraisers and fundraisers more than a year before Election Day.
In states where they are most vulnerable in 2024 — Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Wisconsin — Democratic incumbents have raised more money than they have before at this stage in earlier cycles, the latest campaign filings show. Saturday was the deadline for campaigns to file spending and fundraising reports for the three months between April 1 and June 30.
Most of the vulnerable incumbent Democratic senators have also outperformed their potential Republican challengers in fundraising and will head into the fall with several million dollars in cash.
The race for Senate control is in its earliest months, and Republicans are still building campaigns. Still, the Democrats’ relative financial strength in the second quarter suggests significant energy as the party seeks to protect its slim majority next year.
The electoral map, however, will be one of the most difficult the party has faced in years. Nearly two dozen Democratic seats are up for re-election in 2024, with eight incumbents seen as vulnerable, while only 10 Republicans face re-election — and all GOP incumbents won by comfortable margins in previous cycles.
In their Senate re-election bids, Ohio’s Sherrod Brown and Montana’s Jon Tester both brought in more than $5 million. Mr. Brown had $8.7 million in cash, and Mr. Tester $10.5 million. Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin raised $3.2 million, the most ever raised in a Wisconsin Senate race in an off-year, according to her campaign.
Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a conservative Democrat who has yet to publicly say whether he will run for re-election — and is flirting with a third-party presidential run — has raised $1.3 million over the past three months and has more than $10 million. in the bank, expanding his cash advantage over Gov. Jim Justice and Representative Alex Mooney, Republicans who have already begun campaigns to unseat him.
In Pennsylvania, Sen. Bob Casey posted his best fundraising quarter yet, bringing in more than $4 million for his re-election bid.
Republicans prepared their own money machines and recruited candidates in five states with vulnerable Democrats. Republican confidence was also boosted by the 2024 Senate map.
The Democrats are “trying to use money to defy gravity,” said Stu Sandler, a political consultant and former policy director of the National Republican Senate Committee. “This is a lopsided map for them,” he added, pointing to former President Donald J. Trump’s 2020 victories in Ohio, Montana and West Virginia — all states that Mr. Trump won decisively. And, he said, Republicans have some “very credible front-runners” to challenge the incumbents.
Democrats see this fundraiser as a crucial show of strength that will bolster their candidates ahead of a tough 2024 cycle for the party.
“Voters and grassroots supporters are once again supporting battle-tested Senate Democratic nominees in record ways because they recognize the stakes of this election and the importance of preventing Republicans from implementing their toxic agenda,” said Tommy Garcia, a spokesman for the Democratic senator. Campaign Committee.
In Arizona, Representative Ruben Gallego outraised Senator Kyrsten Sinema, who switched his party affiliation from Democrat to Independent, by two to one — the second time this year Mr. Gallego has notched such a ratio. He still trails Ms. Sinema in cash by more than $7 million. Mrs. Sinema has not yet announced whether she will run for re-election.
Even Democrats in safe Republican territory had strong showings. In Texas, Representative Colin Allred raised $6.2 million in his challenge to Senator Ted Cruz. Mr. Allred, who announced his campaign in May, has brought in more money in a shorter period of time than Mr. Cruz, who raised $4.4 million in the last three months.