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Party committee fundraising, 2019-2020

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Party Committees
Democratic National Committee (DNC) • Republican National Committee (RNC)
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) • National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC)
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) • National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC)
Fundraising
2025-2026 • 2023-2024 • 2021-2022 • 2019-2020 • 2018
Leadership elections
2025 • 2023

Six of the top 10 spenders during the 2018 congressional election cycle were party committees, who together spent $1.3 billion.[1] During the 2020 campaign cycle, the same six party committees—three Democratic committees and three Republican committees—raised a combined $2.650 billion ($1.510 billion across the three Republican committees and $1.140 billion across the three Democratic committees).

Democrats and Republicans each have three committees: 1) a national committee, 2) a committee dedicated to U.S. Senate elections, and 3) a committee dedicated to U.S. House elections; the latter two are also known as Hill committees since they work to elect members to serve on Capitol Hill. National committees exist "to look out for their party candidates around the country to support them with things like research, polling, [and] money to run their campaigns," according to political science professor Joseph Losco.[2]

This article is meant to make fundraising numbers understandable and comparable, and to demonstrate the role these committees play in elections.

On this page, you will find details on the fundraising and spending efforts of all six committees during the 2020 election cycle. It includes an overall look at all six committees' finances as well as more detail on the Democratic and Republican committees' numbers. These sections are updated monthly following each reporting deadline. Also included is a section with analysis of trends in fundraising figures and why these committees matter.

For more on 2020 Congressional elections, see:

Overall fundraising and spending

All committees

The Democratic and Republican national party committees and campaign party committees reported the following monthly fundraising amounts during the 2019-2020 election cycle, according to the Federal Election Commission. The six party committees are:


Democratic committees

The Democratic and Republican national party committees and campaign party committees reported the following monthly fundraising amounts during the 2019-2020 election cycle, according to the Federal Election Commission. The three Democratic party committees are:

Republican committees

The Democratic and Republican national party committees and campaign party committees reported the following monthly fundraising amounts during the 2019-2020 election cycle, according to the Federal Election Commission. The three Republican party committees are:

The following chart displays cash on hand as of the end of each reporting period for each of the six party committees. National committees are represented by bold lines, Senate committees by dotted lines, and House committees by dashed lines.

2018

2018 annual fundraising for party national committees
Organization Total Receipts Total Disbursements Cash on hand Debts Owed
National party committees (through/as of December 31, 2018)
DNC $109,820,208 $107,882,227 $8,550,791 $5,625,873
RNC $192,326,316 $207,643,381 $23,501,561 $0
House campaign committees (through/as of December 31, 2018)
DCCC $190,962,396 $224,247,395 $5,615,496 $18,943,553
NRCC $120,768,091 $147,847,533 $16,565,198 $10,600,000
Senate campaign committees (through/as of December 31, 2018)
DSCC $94,294,716 $107,131,170 $6,185,158 $21,079,721
NRSC $109,652,458 $117,423,685 $7,497,936 $17,000,000


Note: This table summarizes data for 2018 as reported on each committee's Federal Election Commission (FEC) reports.

Looking for more detail? This spreadsheet provides campaign finance figures for all six party committees for the 2016 and 2018 cycles and links to each filed report.

Democratic Party committee fundraising

The following chart shows cumulative fundraising and spending figures for each of the Democratic Party committees during the 2020 election cycle. Fundraising is represented by the dark blue lines while spending is represented by the light blue lines.

Democratic National Committee

See also: Democratic National Committee
Tom Perez

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the Democratic Party's principal governing organization and was established during the party's 1848 convention. Among its duties are planning the presidential nominating convention and promotion of the party's platform, although it also works to support Democratic candidates for elected office at all levels of government. The DNC is composed of the chair and vice chair of each state Democratic Party as well as over 200 additional members elected by party members.[3]

For the 2020 election cycle, the DNC's chairman was former Secretary of Labor Tom Perez (D), who was elected in February 2017 over then-Rep. Keith Ellison (D).[4]

Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee

See also: Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee
Catherine Cortez Masto

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) is a group dedicated to the election of Democratic members of the U.S. Senate. It took on its modern form following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Buckley v. Valeo.[5][6] The DSCC's role in elections includes organizing, candidate recruitment, and allocation of funds.[7]

For the 2020 election cycle, the DSCC's chairwoman was Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D) of Nevada. She was appointed by Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D) following the 2018 elections.[8]

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee

See also: Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
Cheri Bustos

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is the official campaign arm of Democratic members of the U.S. House.[9] It was established in 1866.[10]

For the 2020 election cycle, the DCCC chairwoman was Rep. Cheri Bustos (D), who was first elected to Illinois' 17th congressional district in 2012. She was elected over Reps. Denny Heck (D) and Suzan DelBene (D) following the 2018 elections.[11]

Republican Party committee fundraising

The following chart shows cumulative fundraising and spending figures for each of the Republican Party committees during the 2020 election cycle. Fundraising is represented by the dark red lines while spending is represented by the light red lines.

Republican National Committee

See also: Republican National Committee
Ronna Romney McDaniel

The Republican National Committee (RNC) is the principal governing organization of the Republican Party. It was founded in 1856, two years after the party's establishment in 1854.[12] Its duties include organizing the party's presidential nominating convention, putting together its political platform, raising funds, and coordinating campaign strategies.[13]

For the 2020 election cycle, the RNC's chairwoman was former Republican Party of Michigan chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel. She was first elected to the post in January 2017 and won re-election in January 2019.[14][15]

National Republican Senatorial Committee

See also: National Republican Senatorial Committee
Todd Young

The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) is a group dedicated to the election of Republican members of the U.S. Senate. It was organized in 1916 and took on its modern form following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Buckley v. Valeo.[16][17][18] Its duties include assisting candidates with planning budgets, navigating election laws, fundraising, research, and advertising.[19]

For the 2020 election cycle, the NRSC's chairman was Sen. Todd Young (R) of Indiana. Young was elected without opposition following the 2018 elections.[20]

National Republican Congressional Committee

See also: National Republican Congressional Committee
Tom Emmer

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is a group dedicated electing Republican members to the U.S. House, esatblished in 1866. Its duties include providing financial and informational support to Republican candidates and organizations as well as party-building activities such as voter outreach and turnout drives.[21]

For the 2020 election cycle, the NRCC's chairman was Rep. Tom Emmer (R), who was first elected to Minnesota's 6th congressional district in 2014. Emmer was elected to the post without opposition after the 2018 elections.[22]

National committee fundraising in presidential election cycles

See also: Presidential election campaign finance, 2020

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Republican National Committee (RNC) each spend on behalf of their party's candidate during presidential elections. This section looks at fundraising over each four-year presidential cycle, so "Year 1" refers to the year after the last election (2009/2013/2017), "Year 2" to the midterm before the election (2010/2014/2018), etc. The following chart displays the percentage difference between the DNC and RNC's overall fundraising on a monthly basis for the 2012, 2016, and 2020 presidential election cycles. A positive number indicates that the RNC had outraised the DNC at that point while a negative number indicates that the DNC had outraised the RNC.



Throughout the entire 2016 cycle and all of the 2020 cycle to date, the RNC has outraised the DNC. Its greatest fundraising advantage over the DNC was 121% in February 2013, while the DNC's greatest fundraising advantage over the RNC was 19% in July and August 2011.

Political analysis

The following section contains quotes explaining the role of party committees and what their financial numbers mean.

What do the party committees do?

  • Joseph Losco, Ball State University/Loyola University Chicago (May 31, 2018):
"[The DNC and RNC are] national party coordinating bodies. Their job, basically, is to look out for their party candidates around the country to support them with things like research, polling, [and] money to run their campaigns...By and large, they’re supposed to remain neutral during a primary season. But once the primary candidate has been chosen, they back that candidate with as [many] resources as they think are necessary in winning that particular seat...They run the [presidential nominating] conventions, hold them, and then work with the presidential candidate to try to get them to win."[2]
  • Boris Heersink, Fordham University:
"These national committees are essential in the eyes of party leaders because they view them as creators of their party's brand - defined as the understanding voters have of party positions on salient policy issues. Modern parties rely on these brands to mobilize voters and achieve electoral success.
When a party is the national majority - defined as having unified control of the federal government - party leaders can build a brand more easily through legislation and governance. As a result, the committees' publicity programs decrease, with the DNC and RNC focusing instead on other programs (e.g., fundraising). In contrast, when a party is in the national minority, the DNC and RNC step up publicity efforts in order to convince voting groups to (re-)join their coalition. National minority party committees prioritize their branding role by investing considerable shares of their budgets in their publicity divisions, inaugurating new publicity programs, and creating new communication tools to reach out to voting groups.
This view represents a major departure from the existing research on national committees. I argue that the committees' publicity services are different from regular 'services' because of the space committees frequently have as to what type of brand they promote. That is, the DNC and RNC can choose which image to promote and which voting groups to target."[23]

Relative fundraising between the DNC and RNC

  • Bill Allison, Bloomberg (June 13, 2019):
"Party officials and fundraisers blamed the deficiency [in DNC fundraising] on several factors, and chief among them is competition from the 23 Democrats who are running for president and vacuuming up contributors’ cash. Giving to the party isn’t as compelling as supporting the presidential hopefuls, said John Morgan, an Orlando-based trial attorney and Democratic fundraiser.
'Do you want to fix up the barn or do you want to bet on the horses?' he said.
But major donors also pointed to the perception of some contributors that the national party is disorganized -- a hangover from the 2016 election. The growing schism between the old-guard establishment and the younger, activist wing could be discouraging donors, too, they said."[24]
  • Ryan Struyk, CNN (November 22, 2017):
"But it hasn't just been a bad October. It's shaping up to be a dismal post-election year for the DNC, despite hopeful signs in special elections and low popularity for President Donald Trump -- plus, it's looking like a really good post-election year for the National Republican Committee.
Granted, historically, it's nothing unusual for national Republicans to raise more than national Democrats. In fact, they did so even during years when the party was regrouping after losing presidential elections in 2008 and 2012.
The DNC has faced a rough last 18 months: From the resignation of Debbie Wasserman-Schultz during the 2016 campaign and Hillary Clinton's loss in the presidential election, to interim chair Donna Brazile's new book and spats between the most liberal wings of the party and current chair Tom Perez."[25]


See also



Footnotes

  1. ↑ OpenSecrets, "Top Spending Committees 2018 Cycle," accessed May 23, 2019
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Teen Vogue, "DNC and RNC: Everything You Need to Know About the Democratic and Republican National Committees," May 31, 2018
  3. ↑ Democrats, "Democratic National Committee," accessed June 18, 2019
  4. ↑ CBS News, "Who is Tom Perez?" February 25, 2017
  5. ↑ Roll Call, "Senate Chairmen Try to Avoid Historic Home-State Losses," September 24, 2014
  6. ↑ U.S. Senate, "Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairs," accessed June 18, 2019
  7. ↑ Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, "About Us," accessed June 18, 2019
  8. ↑ Roll Call, "Catherine Cortez Masto Becomes First Latina to Lead DSCC," November 15, 2018
  9. ↑ Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, "About Us," accessed June 18, 2019
  10. ↑ Google Books, "Campaign Finance Reform: The Political Shell Game," accessed June 18, 2019
  11. ↑ Roll Call, "Cheri Bustos Elected DCCC Chair," November 29, 2018
  12. ↑ Google Books, "Campaign Finance Reform: The Political Shell Game," accessed June 18, 2019
  13. ↑ Encyclopedia Britannica, "Republican National Committee," accessed June 18, 2019
  14. ↑ Politico, "Ronna Romney McDaniel tapped to be new RNC chair," January 19, 2017
  15. ↑ The Detroit News, "Ronna McDaniel elected to second term as RNC chair," January 25, 2019
  16. ↑ Roll Call, "Senate Chairmen Try to Avoid Historic Home-State Losses," September 2,4 2014
  17. ↑ U.S. Senate, "Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairs," accessed June 18, 2019
  18. ↑ Google Books, "Campaign Finance Reform: The Political Shell Game," accessed June 18, 2019
  19. ↑ National Republican Senatorial Committee, "About NRSC," accessed June 16, 2018
  20. ↑ Roll Call, "Todd Young Elected to Lead Senate Republican Campaign Arm," November 14, 2018
  21. ↑ NRCC, "About," accessed June 18, 2019
  22. ↑ Roll Call, "Following GOP Losses, Emmer Poised to be Next NRCC Chairman," November 14, 2018
  23. ↑ Boris Heersink, "NATIONAL PARTY ORGANIZATIONS AND PARTY BRANDS IN AMERICAN POLITICS," accessed June 18, 2019
  24. ↑ Bloomberg, "The DNC Has Spent More Money Than It’s Raised This Year," June 13, 2019
  25. ↑ CNN, "The DNC's fundraising is as bad as it looks, in 2 charts," November 22, 2017
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