Democrats and their campaigns are leaning into early fundraising numbers in the race for U.S. Senate control, touting what they describe as strong momentum in some of the most competitive contests heading toward November. In filings made public for the first three months of the year, campaigns in multiple states reported large hauls while Democrats framed the money as a way to define their message to voters and counter Republican attacks. The boost, however, arrives with a caveat from both sides: the totals represent only a limited snapshot of overall political spending.
Texas Democratic nominee James Talarico said his campaign raised $27 million in the first quarter. In Georgia, Sen. Jon Ossoff reported raising $14 million, and in North Carolina former Gov. Roy A. Cooper’s campaign said it raised $8.8 million. In Ohio, former Sen. Sherrod Brown reported $10.1 million in his comeback bid, according to totals reported to the Federal Election Commission.
Campaigns and party strategists also highlighted other reported fundraising totals among Senate candidates, including Democrats competing in Maine and Democrats in Alaska. In Maine, retiring GOP Sen. Susan Collins is part of a broader contest where Democrats have been fighting for their party’s nomination to challenge her; the AP report described a four-way Democratic contest among Graham Platner, Janet Mills, and the other party figures. Collins, who Republicans see as a key seat, had a Democratic target with reported fundraising; Mills reported $2.6 million and Platner reported $4 million. In Alaska, Democratic former Rep. Mary Peltola reported raising $8.7 million, compared with $1.7 million for Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan.
Republicans argued that the Democratic fundraising edge in the reported first-quarter totals does not ensure electoral success. The AP report cited former Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who pointed to the fact that his Democratic opponent in 2020 celebrated successful fundraising quarters but did not win. Tillis also referenced Democratic losses despite large fundraising efforts in past cycles, including Beto O’Rourke’s 2018 Texas campaign and Jaime Harrison’s 2020 South Carolina bid.
In Texas, Republicans reported comparatively smaller fundraising as two top figures in the GOP nomination fight each other. The report said incumbent Sen. Jon Cornyn and state Attorney General Ken Paxton—who are locked in a bitter runoff for the GOP nomination—raised $4.2 million combined in the quarter, about 15% of Talarico’s reported revenue. In Georgia, the report said two of the three main Republicans, Derek Dooley and Buddy Carter, raised a combined roughly $1.1 million, and Mike Collins raised just over $1 million.
Other Republican figures also reported totals in the same quarter, including former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley, who the report said raised $3.2 million in North Carolina, and Sen. Jon Husted, who raised $2.9 million in Ohio. The report also said Collins raised $3.1 million in Maine, while Mills raised $2.6 million and Platner raised $4 million during the period covered by the FEC snapshot.
Beyond candidate-by-candidate figures, the article described a broader fundraising imbalance at the party level that Republicans say favors them. It said the Republican National Committee reported roughly $109 million cash on hand in its most recent FEC filing, compared with roughly $16 million for the Democrats’ counterpart party committee, and added that Democrats were carrying about $17 million in debt. Republicans also have a super political action committee tied to Trump, MAGA Inc., which the report said has more than $300 million cash on hand, according to the FEC.
Democrats countered that more cash can translate into earlier visibility for candidates and more room to compete for media attention. The report said the rosy first-quarter contributions give Democrats advantages such as buying limited advertising slots ahead of the election to get on the air early, along with favorable rates for television ads relative to some spending by outside groups, though it noted that ad spending is shifting increasingly toward digital streaming. The AP report also included a statement from Talarico campaign manager Seth Krasne that described the fundraising as a “grassroots fundraising haul” putting the movement in a position to spread its message in expensive media markets.
For Texas, the report said Talarico will face the winner of the GOP runoff between Cornyn and Paxton on May 26. Democrats said the quarter’s totals strengthen their case to voters even as the overall political environment remains an uphill path, particularly in battleground states that President Donald Trump won in 2024.
This story has been corrected to show that Cooper raised $8.8 million, not $13.8 million; Brown raised $10.1 million, not $12.5 million; Whatley raised $3.2 million, not $2.1 million; Peltola raised $8.7 million, not $8.9 million; and Cornyn and Paxton raised $4.2 million combined, not $2.5 million.