“In nearly every competitive Senate contest, southern Democrats outraised their Republican counterparts this quarter,” reported National Journal. These numbers are for the quarter, which ran from July 1- September 30, they reflect money raised before the Republican government shutdown and GOP threat to default.
Sarah Mimms at the National Journal reported:
In nearly every competitive Senate contest, southern Democrats outraised their Republican counterparts this quarter, which ran from July 1 to September 30. The South will be home to some of the party’s most difficult races next year, including three vulnerable Democratic-held seats they’re trying to hang onto — in Louisiana, Arkansas and North Carolina — and two potential, if difficult, pickup opportunities in Kentucky and Georgia.
Two of the party’s most vulnerable incumbents, Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu and North Carolina Sen. Kay Hagan both outraised their top Republican challengers by more than a two-to-one margin. Landrieu raised $1.35 million in the third quarter, while Rep. Bill Cassidy brought in around $700,000, according to their respective campaigns. Hagan, meanwhile, raised nearly $1.9 million, while North Carolina House Speaker Thom Tillis, the current frontrunner for the Republican nomination, brought in about $700,000 as well.
The Democratic challenger to Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Alison Grimes, raised more money than McConnell in the third quarter:
Lundergan Grimes reported raising a total of $2.5 million from July to the end of September while McConnell raised $2.3 million. McConnell’s campaign manager, Jesse Benton, said that fundraising quarter was his best so far, according to the Associated Press. Grimes’s campaign said 13,328 unique contributors donated to her campaign.
Of course, McConnell as the long time incumbent has more cash on hand than Grimes, $10 million to her estimated $2 million.
“She’d better get busy. She said she needs $25 or 30 million to beat him, and at this fundraising clip, she’s not going to get that much,” said WDRB columnist John David Dyche.
Outraising doesn’t translate to winning an election, but it’s a good start.
It’s tough to say how the Republican shutdown and default threat will impact the races. McConnell released a radio ad blaming Democrats for it, so clearly it’s not something he wants to own at home. Even Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) is being eviscerated at home for his shutdown antics.
It’s not good news for Republicans that even Southern Democrats are outraised them in the third quarter, and it’s even worse news that this happened before the government shutdown, which started October 1 (funding ended September 30). Without the South, the Republican Party is officially dead.
The GOP has been relying on the Southern strategy for so long that for the last few election cycles, they had to face the inevitable results of that strategy — a shrinking tent, a reputation for bigotry, and an alliance with noxious brands like the KKK, the Birchers/Birthers/Tea Partiers, and the Confederate flag.
If they lose the South, it’s over.
Maybe the South will actually rise again one day, to be less of a breeding ground for poverty, less dependent upon the federal government and more labor/middle class friendly.
The South is full of good people, who deserve better than the government they currently have that tells them to pray when they’re starving (Mark Sanford). They deserve policies that will reward hard work instead of functioning to keep the privileged status quo. Who knows, stranger things have happened.
Update: A new PPP poll shows that the shutdown will make taking the senate back much harder for Republicans.
Image: Alison Grimes
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