Exclusive – Las Vegas – Sen. Steve Daines of Montana, chairman of the Senate Republican Campaign Committee, is lobbying big donors and influential conservative activists to close the funding gap between Republican and Democratic campaigns.
“We need your help to close the fundraising gap,” the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) emphasized, speaking to an audience at the Republican Jewish Coalition's annual leadership conference. “We have the right candidates. Let's give them the money they need to win.”
Minutes earlier, in an interview with Fox News Digital, Daines pointed to the disparity in Republican fundraising compared to Democrats as Republicans seek to retake the Senate majority, acknowledging, “That's a concern of mine.”
“Right now, we're so underfunded that we may not be able to run a winnable campaign to the end. We're literally two months away from the most important election of my lifetime,” Daines said. “That's why we're working so hard to sound the alarm for our donors.”
Republican support grows as Republicans seek to retake Senate seats held by Democrats
Sen. Steve Daines of Montana, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, speaks at the Republican Jewish Coalition's annual leadership conference on Sept. 5, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
Democrats are raising and spending more than Republicans in the 2024 Senate majority battle and, with an eye to the future, are putting even more money into booking ads in the final two months before Election Day on Nov. 5.
Senate Democrats and the outside groups that support them have significantly increased their post-Labor Day ad bookings in four of the seven key Senate battleground districts. Advertising impactIn Wisconsin, Nevada, Michigan and Arizona, Democrats are spending at least twice as much on reserved ads as their respective Republican opponents, posing a major obstacle for GOP candidates who already face name recognition challenges and the hurdle of challenging incumbents.
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Overall, Democrats plan to spend about $348 million on key races across the country ahead of Election Day, compared with more than $255 million for Republican senators.
Republicans' relatively low spending in Wisconsin, Nevada, Michigan and Arizona appears to be the result of heavy spending priorities by Republican-leaning senators in Montana, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Republicans are outspending Democrats in those states, but their opponents still boast similarly high spending plans. In Ohio, Republicans have reserved $81.9 million compared to Democrats' $78.3 million in future spending, which is not far behind. Advertising impact.
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign event in Detroit, Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Emily Elconin/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
In the month and a half since Vice President Kamala Harris took over from President Biden as the party's top bid for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination to challenge former President Donald Trump, Democrats have seen a surge in enthusiasm and fundraising, fueling a financial gap.
“You just saw in the last 48 hours that Kamala Harris announced that she was directing $25 million of her presidential campaign funds to lower-ranking candidates, including $10 million to Democratic senators,” Daines noted. “There's not a lot that Kamala Harris is good at, but one thing she is good at is fundraising. So this is something that concerns us.”
But Daines said there were some positives about Harris replacing the 81-year-old Biden in the race for the White House.
Senate Democratic Campaign Chairman Speaks One-on-One with Fox News
“Age won't be an issue in this election because that's one of the reasons Biden did so poorly. Age was more of a factor than anything else,” Daines said. “Now we can focus on policy. This election will be a policy contrast. For the first time in decades, we'll be up against the results of two different administrations: four years of President Trump and four years of Kamala Harris. Two very different administrations, two very different results. That contrast will be very helpful to us in the crucial Senate elections.”
Democrats control the Senate by a slim 51-49 margin, giving Republicans an advantageous position this year, with Democrats set to defend 23 of the 34 seats at stake.
Republican presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump speaks during a rally at First Summit Arena at the Cambria County War Memorial, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024, in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Rebecca Droke)
One of those seats is in heavily Republican West Virginia, a state that Trump won by nearly 40 points in 2020. Republicans are all but certain to retake the seat because moderate Democrat-turned-independent Sen. Joe Manchin (a former governor) is not seeking reelection.
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Additionally, in Daines' home states of Montana and Ohio, states that Trump won handily four years ago, Republicans are looking to defeat Democratic Senators Jon Tester and Sherrod Brown.
Five more Democratic-held seats are at stake this year in key battleground states in the presidential election.
Former Republican Governor Larry Hogan of Maryland, a Democratic-leaning state, entered the Senate race late in February, creating an unexpected headache in a state previously considered safe as Democrats try to protect their fragile Senate majority. Hogan left office in early 2023 with very high approval ratings and favorable ratings.
Daines said for the first time that his party would regain a majority.
“We're going to have a majority in the Senate,” Daines told Fox News.
“51 is the number we want to get to. Obviously there are opportunities to exceed it, but 51 is the number we have to get to,” he stressed.
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