House GOP reelection arm 'obliterates' fundraising records with $140M haul in 2021
Republicans need net gain of just 5 seats in November's midterm elections to win back House majority
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The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) didn’t just break its fundraising record for an off-election year, it blew it out of the water.
The House GOP’s reelection arm reported on Thursday that it brought in $140 million in 2021 as it builds resources to regain the chamber's majority in November's midterm elections.
The NRCC touted that last year’s fundraising was a 65% increase from what it brought in 2019, "obliterating the committee’s previous off-year record." The NRCC reported a $17.9 million haul last month, more than double the amount it raised in December 2019.
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The NRCC also reported $78.2 million cash on hand, which it highlighted was a 146% increase from this point in the last election cycle.
"Voters are ready to put an end to Democrat policies that have led to skyrocketing crime, rising prices, and open borders," NRCC chair Rep. Tom Emmer charged in a statement.
Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee, on the campaign trail during the 2020 election cycle
And the Minnesota Republican gave credit to the "hundreds of thousand of generous donors who are ready to fire (House Speaker) Nancy Pelosi once and for all."
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The NRCC noted that House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy transferred $25.3 million of his fundraising last year to the committee. Fox News was first to report on Wednesday that McCarthy hauled in an off-election record $72.4 million in 2021.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., speaks during a television interview, at the Capitol in Washington, Nov. 5, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite / AP Newsroom)
While Republicans lost the White House and their Senate majority in the 2020 elections, they defied expectations and took a big bite out of the Democrats' large House majority. The GOP now needs a net gain of just five seats in the 435-seat chamber in this year's midterms to recapture the majority it lost in the 2018 election.
As they aim to regain the majority, Republicans have history on their side. On average, the party that wins the White House in a presidential election loses more than 25 House seats in the ensuing midterm election. Democrats are also facing a difficult political climate.
And last month’s major setback for President Biden and congressional Democrats in their push to pass a sweeping social spending bill, along with the five-month downward spiral of the president’s poll numbers, are doing House Democrats no favors as they try to retain the majority in November.
Thanks to a surge in announcements the past two months, 26 House Democrats have now said they're retiring at the end of this current term, or bidding for another office, rather than run for reelection. That's twice the number of House Republicans who are not running for reelection.
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House retirements are often seen as an early barometer of things to come in the midterms. The last time the House flipped, amid a blue wave in the 2018 midterms, there were 23 GOP retirements compared to just 10 among House Democrats.
Competitive seats become even more vulnerable without a well-known and well-financed incumbent running for reelection.