U.S. House Republicans, who hold the majority in that chamber for the first time in four years, are reaping the benefits financially, new Federal Election Commission reports show.
The National Republican Congressional Committee entered July with $11 million in the bank, more than the $7.4 million reported by its House Democratic counterpart. The NRCC raised $6.7 million last month, compared with $6.2 million for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
From January to June, the DCCC led the Republican committee in fundraising, $33.7 million to $33.5 million. Republicans won the majority in the House of Representatives in the 2010 midterm elections after losing control of the chamber in the 2006 vote.
The DCCC began the year $19 million in debt and pared that figure to $4.7 million at midyear. House Republicans reduced their debt to $3.5 million from $10.5 million.
The Democratic National Committee continued to outpace its Republican rival, bringing in more than $12 million in June for a 2011 total of $58 million, according to its FEC report. Of that total, $7 million was raised jointly with President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign.
The Republican National Committee raised $37 million this year, including $6.8 million in June.
The DNC had $21 million in cash, compared with $7.3 million for the RNC. The DNC owed $11.8 million, while the RNC’s debt was $17.5 million.
Wooing Large Donors
Since Reince Priebus took over as RNC chairman in January, he has been paying down a debt of more than $21 million. Priebus has been trying to woo back large donors who deserted the party during the tenure of his predecessor as party chairman, Michael Steele.
“The RNC will have the resources and the funding it needs to put a Republican back in the White House,” said Kirsten Kukowski, a spokeswoman.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee had $9.1 million in the bank after raising $4.8 million in June, spokesman Matt Canter said by e-mail, while the National Republican Senatorial Committee had $3.7 million in cash and raised $3.8 million in June, according to figures released by NRSC spokesman Brian Walsh in an e-mail.
From January to June, the DSCC raised more than $23 million and the NRSC raised more than $21 million.
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