NRCC Raises Record Funds, But Enthusiasm Remains A Problem

The National Republican Congressional Committee is reporting its most robust fundraising first quarter in its history. Evidence, the committee’s chairman says, of strong support for House candidates and the GOP agenda less than seven months out from the midterm elections. 

NRCC’s record haul comes as congressional Republicans continue to lag Democrats in generic preference polls. 

According to figures provided to The Federalist by the NRCC, the committee raised $47.1 million between January and March. It closed the quarter last month with $28.1 million in funds, the NRCC’s best March on record. 

“This historic fundraising quarter proves House Republicans have a tremendous amount of enthusiasm behind our agenda to lower costs and keep Americans safe,” NRCC Chairman Richard Hudson, said in a statement issued to The Federalist. 

“House Republicans are united, battle-tested, and building the financial firepower to protect our majority and take the fight directly to Democrats’ extreme agenda,” Hudson added. 

‘Poised to Dominate’

House Republicans, which hold a razor-thin majority, will need all the help they can get since midterms are historically unkind to the party in power. 

Democrats have reportedly raked in “gargantuan” fundraising totals in the first quarter. 

Troubled liberal candidate fundraising platform ActBlue recently announced raking in $568 million in the first quarter, its best opening quarter ever. ActBlue claims $391 million of the haul was marked for federal campaigns, while $119 million was raised for state and local candidates. 

Much of the press release is the platform’s defense of its practices and fraud protections as Republican committees investigate ActBlue’s conduct amid allegations of wrongdoing. 

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee boasts that “Democrats and Red to Blue candidates dominated in first-quarter fundraising.” DCCC asserts Dems outraised Republicans in 42 battleground districts. 

DCCC spokesman Liam Buckley asserts the “enormous fundraising numbers prove that Democrats have the money, momentum, and message to take back the House this November.”

“With commanding leads across the battleground — including against a number of high profile Republican incumbents — Democrats are poised to dominate the final six months of the midterm campaign and deliver on lowering costs for the American people,” he said in a statement. 

But not so fast. 

‘Waiting in the Wings’

The Republican National Committee holds a significant money lead over its Democratic counterpart — bringing in nearly seven times more in campaign contributions, according to the lates FEC filings. The RNC reported more than $109 million cash on hand at the end of March, compared with $15.9 million for the Democratic National Committee. The DNC also was carrying $17.37 in debts. 

The RNC was in a comparatively strong funding position heading into the midterm election year. 

“As Democrats have struggled in the Trump era, the RNC tallied $172 million raised in 2025, with $95 million cash on hand at year’s end. In contrast, the Democratic National Committee posted $145 million for the year, with $14 million on hand — and $17 million in debt, to start the new year underwater,” silive.com reported. 

Call it the Trump factor. The president’s allies are sitting on hundreds of millions of dollars that can be injected into races in the months ahead. 

“Waiting in the wings for Republicans is a super political action committee tied to Trump — MAGA Inc. — which has more than $300 million cash on hand, according to the FEC,” the leftist PBS reported in a piece about Senate Democratic candidates outraising Republicans.  

Expect a lot more money pouring in from lib billionaire sugar daddies, the Soros gang, Big Tech players, and big labor. 

Money, of course, only goes so far in winning campaigns — and keeping or taking back control of congress. 

Message and Resume Problem

Democrats sound cocky, pointing to polls showing President Trump well underwater. But they ignore — at their own peril — their biggest weakness: themselves. Americans in the main rejected the far-left agenda of social reengeering, higher taxation, and radical opposition to immigration laws, in the 2024 presidential election. A CNN poll released earlier this month found just 28 percent of Americans held a favorable view of the Democratic Party. That has much to do with how radical the party has become in recent years. 

But the GOP doesn’t fare that much better. About one-third (32%) of those surveyed had a favorable opinion of the Republican Party. 

Generic polls on which party’s candidate voters would support in November election show Democrats with a moderate edge of from 2 to 6 percentage points, according to an analysis published Sunday in the New York Times.  

Republicans currently have a message and resume problem. The successes they’ve had in the current session — tax relief at the top of that list — have been lost in an ineffective voter education campaign. And most of the biggest wins have come from the president’s pen. The Republican-controlled Congress has failed to codify the government reforms and liberty protections Trump pushed through by executive order. 

Republican House members have had a much better record of action than their friends in the Senate, who have failed to deliver on an election integrity bill that the vast majority of voters support. 

To borrow very loosely from Neil Diamond, money talks, but it can’t make unmotivated Republicans feeling underwhelmed by their party leaders get out and vote. 

Matt Kittle is a senior elections correspondent for The Federalist. An award-winning investigative reporter and 30-year veteran of print, broadcast, and online journalism, Kittle previously served as the executive director of Empower Wisconsin.