President Trump may be struggling in the polls, but donors are still on board, powering the GOP’s major national political committees to big numbers for a nonelection year.
The Republican National Committee has raised a whopping $51 million in 2017, including $9 million in April, easily outdistancing the Democratic National Committee, which has raised $28 million this year and just $4.7 million in April.
It’s part of a downward spiral for the DNC, which notched its worst April in eight years as the party has been slow to reunify after last year’s contentious presidential primary between Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernard Sanders.
Fundraising numbers through April were due over the weekend, giving the parties a chance to crow — or to step back and regroup ahead of next year’s congressional elections.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the campaign arm of the House Democrats, said it’s doing very well in the Trump era, raising nearly $40 million since the start of the year, with $9 million in April alone.
That’s up from $25 million raised at this point in the last “off-year” period in 2015, and the DCCC reported that about half of its donations this year have come online.
“Our record-smashing grass-roots, online fundraising haul is further evidence that House Democrats are on offense while Republicans are in full meltdown,” said DCCC Spokesman Tyler Law in a statement.
Still, the House GOP’s National Republican Congressional Committee managed to outraise the DCCC by some $6 million overall, and is $14 million ahead of its 2015 take.
In the Senate, the Democratic campaign committee is holding steady, with $4 million raised in April and $18 million total so far this year, about matching the 2015 number of $17.8 million.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee brought in $3.8 million last month and has totaled $20 million this year, a $5 million uptick compared to this point in 2015.
Republicans said they’re seeing the impact of supporters eager to back the GOP agenda they see Mr. Trump leading.
“These numbers are evidence of the overwhelming enthusiasm for President Trump and the tireless work by Republicans everywhere to ensure we work together to build on our majorities and elect Republicans up and down the ballot headed to 2017, 2018 and beyond,” said RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel in a statement.
• Sally Persons can be reached at spersons@washingtontimes.com.
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