Republican Billionaires Outspent Democrats in Both Federal, State Races: Report
80% of billionaire contributions have gone to GOP campaigns this cycle
A prominent Democratic fundraising platform has found that Republican billionaires are outspending Democrats in races for all levels of office, not just federal seats.
In a new report, the platform Oath wrote that this spending poses “a significant challenge for Democrats,” particularly as the party has “traditionally focused on federal races at the expense” of impactful state races.
“This midterm cycle is attracting significant billionaire spending down the ballot,” Brian Derrick, Oath’s founder and CEO, said in a statement included in the report. “We’re getting inbounds from donors who want to know specifically which races are funded by billionaires, and our community is looking for the state races where they can fight back in their own backyard.”
As Democrats fight to retake both the House and Senate during the last two years of President Donald Trump’s term, candidates have benefitted from broad public support and attracted large numbers of small donors.
But Republicans have enjoyed a cash advantage in critical races due to outside spending from GOP-linked political action committees (PACs) and Republican billionaires. This election cycle alone, billionaires have poured $433 million into races across the country. Eighty percent of this spending went to Republican campaigns.
Oath’s report surveyed state races in Wisconsin, Texas, Ohio, and Minnesota and found that Republicans held funding advantages in these races due to donations from organizations with funders that include GOP billionaires including Jeff Yass, Tim Dunn, and Farris Wilks.
Though Democrats have lagged behind Republicans in terms of fundraising for consequential state races, including campaigns for state legislative seats and state Supreme Courts, this hasn’t always translated to a GOP advantage.
According to a recent POLITICO poll, less than 30 percent of American adults reported seeing a greater number of campaign advertisements for Republicans than Democrats. Despite their cash advantage, the poll indicates Republicans’ outside spending in this year’s midterm elections may not have resulted in greater visibility for GOP campaigns.
