Financially, the Democratic Party still hasn’t recovered from the 2024 Kamala Harris campaign and is now grappling with a huge deficit in contributions heading toward the midterm elections. A recent New York Times article explained that the party hoping to seize control of Congress in November is currently lagging well behind the GOP in the money race.
In the run-up to the 2024 general election, Democrats were giddy with jubilation as the Harris campaign, alongside the Democratic National Committee (DNC), raked in a staggering $2 billion, almost doubling the amount raised by the Republican National Committee (RNC) and then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. But Harris and her team blew through their cash faster and perhaps less responsibly than Ivy League trust-funders on spring break. They lost the election and limped away, leaving behind a mountain of debt.
The DNC itself is currently underwater, with more debt than cash, thanks to a $15 million loan it took out in 2025.
Republicans Swimming, Democrats Drowning
Democrats have been struggling ever since. A perfect – or, for them, imperfect – storm of paying off the Harris campaign debt, tanking approval ratings, and the almost total shutting down of USAID, which at least in part functioned as a fundraising conduit, has left them playing catch-up with the midterm elections less than nine months away.
Between the Republican Party’s national committees and Congress-centered political action committees, team GOP has around $320 million cash on hand. Democrats have less than $138 million.
But that’s not the whole story. President Trump’s MAGA Inc. super PAC has amassed a stupendous $304 million, and some other groups connected to the president add a few million more. Altogether, Trump and his party, even accounting for debts, had well more than $600 million cash on hand as of Jan. 1, 2026.
Team Trump recently huddled at a Palm Beach, FL, hotel to begin strategizing their midterm elections spend. A few Republicans running to keep or win seats in Congress are taking a beating, individually, when it comes to raising campaign funds. White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, speaking some months ago during a podcast appearance, said of Trump, “He’s sitting on a huge war chest to help these people — and he’ll use it.”
And why wouldn’t he? Though in 2028 the president will certainly be doing what he can to ensure a Republican succeeds him, the 2026 midterm elections are the last elections he will face that impact his agenda as commander-in-chief.
The All-or-Nothing Midterm Elections
For Trump, November is all or nothing. If the Democrats win control of the House of Representatives – never mind both chambers of Congress – they will obstruct everything he does and probably impeach him at least once, but likely two or even three times before his term is over. Preventing that scenario is worth just about every penny he can spend to keep his party in power on Capitol Hill.
Not all Republicans are being outraised by Democrats, though, so MAGA Inc. and the RNC can target the ones who are struggling. In Pennsylvania, for example, Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick is dominating the campaign donation contest. While his challenger, Democrat Bob Harvie, is reported to have around $400,000 on hand, Fitzpatrick is swimming in more than $7.3 million.
In Ohio, it’s a different story. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat and former US senator, is aiming to unseat Republican Sen. Jon Husted. The latter has less than $6 million on hand, while Brown reportedly has close to $10 million.
For Republicans and President Trump, targeted spending is going to become a crucial and risky game. Still, they have more dollars to play with, while Democrats will likely find themselves pumping what they have into a handful of races they consider winnable and the most consequential, while everyone else will largely fend for themselves.
Of course, as Democrats discovered in 2024, outraising your opponent means little if your candidate is a bust. Republicans are still not winning the messaging war on the economy, so they will need to spend all that money carefully. Democrat fortunes in the midterm elections – once that RNC and MAGA Inc. money starts flowing – might well hinge on their big donors opening their wallets. The question is, will those who made no secret of their bitterness over getting burned two years ago step up again with the big bucks to fill a Democrat war chest currently sitting on eroding grass roots?
