The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee started Q3 with an edge over its counterpart, the National Republican Campaign Committee, and managed to extend its lead during the month of July. A big reason is the generosity of sitting Senators on the Democratic side, and a lack of corresponding generosity across the aisle. A contribution loophole available to senators is the right to make unlimited donations to this particular account from their own campaign funds. Thus Mark Pryor (D-AR) was able to kick in $100K all by himself, and hefty contributions came from other members of the caucus. Although the NRCC benefitted from a $250K contribution from John Cornyn (R-TX), only two other senators contributed, amounting to a total of $30K. The DSCC also received numerous contributions from state party organizations. The upshot is that the DSCC will go into the endgame of the election cycle with $43M to spend, compared to NRSC’s $25.4M.
