The Republican Governors Association (RGA) reported their fundraising numbers for 2011 today and it was a record. Raising $44.1 million in the year that just ended, the RGA most than doubled the Democratic Governors Association’s (DGA) total of $20 million.
Comparing the numbers from 2007, the last fundraising cycle before a Presidential election, the RGA is very happy, “more than doubling” that total. They carried over $26.6 million into 2012 giving them “more cash on hand than any other political party committee.”
The DGA, on the other hand, raised just over $20 million in 2011. That’s an improvement over their 2007 total of $12.7 million, but significantly less than the RGA’s total.
The RGA’s more than doubling of the DGA’s fundraising is an important as we head into the 2012 cycle. Democrats are hoping for significant coattails from the billion-plus dollars expected to be spent by the Obama 2012 machine and their surrogate groups.
Governor Bob McDonnell, Chairman of the RGA, said, “This year, the RGA will be on offense in eight of eleven states scheduled to hold governors’ races, and is in position to make game-changing investments in our races, including those in critical presidential and Senate battleground states.”
As the states push back against Washington’s usurping of the 10th Amendment, grabbing more power for itself, having governors in those statehouses who will engage in a fight against it is important in the battle for liberty. The RGA appears well-positioned to be a significant player in that fight.