Mary Lou Masters
The Senate Leadership Fund (SLF), a super political action committee (PAC) dedicated to building a Republican majority in the upper chamber, and its sister organization are on track to top $400 million by the end of the 2024 election cycle.
The super PAC and its nonprofit arm One Nation, both aligned with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, are set to surpass their previous haul for the 2022 election cycle, a source familiar with the groups’ fundraising told the Daily Caller News Foundation. The GOP-aligned groups already broke their own record for the first half of 2023 when they raised a combined $38 million as Republicans are hoping to flip the Senate next year.
“We compete for the dollars with every other national committee and we just have to make a better case than everybody else,” GOP Sen. Pete Ricketts of Nebraska told Politico, and added that they have an “excellent case to make.”
The GOP senators have been making their case to donors — that they are the more trustworthy cause to pour funds into for 2024 after a tumultuous few months in the House, according to Politico, who first reported SLF’s numbers Tuesday.
Though House Republican Speaker Mike Johnson helped the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) break its fundraising record for a single day after his election in late October, the lower chamber’s GOP campaign arm lagged in overall contributions for the month with just over $5 million.
“Lots of uncertainty in the House and lots of uncertainty in the White House,” Scott Jennings, a longtime GOP Kentucky adviser close to McConnell and veteran of numerous campaigns, told Politico. “But the Senate Republicans have a clear line of success.”
Senate Republicans have several pickup opportunities in 2024, including in Ohio, Arizona, Montana, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Nevada, as well as almost certainly in West Virginia after Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin announced he would not seek reelection.
House Republicans hold a small, five-seat majority, and there are 18 members representing districts President Joe Biden won in 2020 that they’ll have to defend in 2024, according to Politico. Additionally, 11 House Republicans have decided not to seek another term so far, though, almost all of those seats are characterized by The Cook Political Report as in “Solid Republican” districts.
The House GOP supporting super PAC, the Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF), raised a significant $16 million following Johnson’s election, according to Politico.
“We proved to be a smart investment the last two cycles, and I’m confident we’ll continue to be seen that way in 2024,” CLF president Dan Conston told Politico. “We’ve seen a great response from donors as they’ve gotten to know Speaker Johnson, and it’s obvious our fundamentals have not changed.”
McConnell, Johnson and the NRCC did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s requests for comment.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
