While Republicans and Democrats fight for control of the House of Representatives, Republican-aligned groups continue to bring in massive fundraising hauls and in some cases, double the size of Democrat-aligned groups.
The Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF) and the related American Action Network (AAN) — two groups that support House Republicans and their policies — announced they posted the best first-quarter fundraising haul in the history of the groups.
CLF raised over $37.5 million in the first quarter, which is more than seven times the group’s Q1 haul in 2020 when it raised $5.4 million, and more than double what the Democrat-aligned groups were able to raise. CLF also has $93.5 million in cash on hand, three times the group’s previous record from 2020, when CLF had $30.4 million on hand. And CLF and AAN together raised $145 million so far this cycle.
House Majority PAC (HMP) and House Majority Forward (HMF) — two groups that support House Democrats and their policies — only reportedly pulled in $16 million in the first quarter. HMP reported just under $45.8 million cash on hand at the end of February, showing that the groups could be in a bad position going into the election season.
The U.S. Capitol building is seen before sunrise on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, March. 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)
“CLF continues to obliterate every record, equipping us with the firepower to expand the map into Democrat territory,” said CLF President Dan Conston, responding to the record-breaking numbers. “With a growing warchest and palpable voter enthusiasm, we are well-positioned to hold Democrats accountable for their disastrous agenda and elect a new Republican Majority in November.”
However, as Conston mentioned, this is not the first time Republican-aligned groups raised mountains of cash. In total fundraising efforts last year, CLF and AAN raised a combined $110 million, doubling the combined $55 million raised by HMP and HMF.
In fact, Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) chair Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY) has shown concern over Democrat-aligned groups being outraised. Maloney told Punchbowl News that CLF’s fundraising is “significant and we take it very seriously. But you’d much rather have the firepower at the candidate level or at the campaign committee level.”
“We know what we’re up against. We’re the underdogs,” he added. “Part of that is we’re taking on big oil and Big Pharma, trying to get you lower prescription drug prices, trying to do something about the price of gas and the Republicans won’t.”
Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter.