Few Democratic candidates suffered more heartbreak on election night than Mandela Barnes. The Wisconsin Democrat, having been largely left for dead politically, came within 1 percentage point of ousting Sen. Ron Johnson.

But for Barnes’ aides, it was something more than a missed opportunity — it was a painful example of how candidates of color continue to face questions about their ability to win. Had the campaign gotten just a wee bit more air cover from super PACs at the race’s critical closing juncture, they reasoned, Barnes would have won.

“There’s no question in my mind,” said Kory Kozloski, Barnes’ campaign manager. “If we were able to communicate at the same levels as Ron Johnson, Mandela Barnes would be in the United States Senate today.”

The postmortems that Barnes’ aides undertook were similar to the ones that advisers to other high-profile Black Senate candidates conducted after an election in which Democrats fared well, but those contenders fell short. While there are numerous reasons why none of the Black candidates trying to flip seats won, they’ve gravitated to a common theme, one that’s more personal than a typical after-action campaign report: Black candidates needed more trust — and, with it, funding — from the Democratic Party’s infrastructure.

“Hindsight is always 20/20 and there’s no doubt that Cheri Beasley and Val Demings were in tough races, but given the right investment they both could have won,” said Rep. Barbara Lee, a California Democrat and chair emeritus of the Congressional Black Caucus, referencing the two Democratic Black women who ran for Senate in North Carolina and Florida.

Lee may be speaking out of self-interest. She has told colleagues that she plans to run for the Senate. And in Demings’ case, it’s unclear how more funding could have overcome a decisive 16-point loss. But her analysis overall of the 2022 results was echoed by 10 elected officials, strategists and campaign operatives who spoke to POLITICO. They don’t just see the issue as one of campaign money but, rather, of Black candidates getting the same institutional support as their white peers.

“Generally speaking what I’ve seen since I’ve gotten here is not enough Black unity across the country, from a political perspective, and not a strong enough Black political infrastructure to support Black candidates across the country,” said Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), who is Black. “That’s something that’s very concerning to me. And something I want to use my voice and platform to help build going forward.”

At the beginning of the midterm election cycle, many Democrats were optimistic about the Black Senate contenders on the ballot, even with the historical challenges the party faced given that it controlled the White House and Congress.

Past high-profile Black candidates — like Sen. Raphael Warnock, Stacey Abrams, Jaime Harrison and Barack Obama — had been some of the party’s star fundraisers. And there was a sense that the long-standing belief that Black candidates couldn’t compete financially with their white counterparts had finally been put aside.

The numbers ended up supporting that theory. Barnes raised $42 million compared to Johnson’s $36 million in the 2022 election cycle, according to newly released data from the Federal Election Commission. Beasley brought in nearly $39 million in 2022, versus Republican opponent Ted Budd’s almost $15 million. Demings, meanwhile, was the third-best Senate fundraiser of the cycle, bringing in $81 million, while Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fl.) collected about $51 million. And it wasn’t just Democrats. Two Black Republicans, Sen. Tim Scott and Senate challenger Herschel Walker, also smashed fundraising expectations, raising roughly $54 million and $74 million, respectively

But in the modern political system, raising money is only one component of a successful campaign. Getting outside help is the other. And as the 2022 cycle came to a close, operatives on some of the high-profile races said they felt ill-equipped to compete against GOP super PACs as Democratic Party groups looked to protect incumbents and poured money into other races, like Pennsylvania.

Past high-profile Black candidates — like Sen. Raphael Warnock — had been some of the party’s star fundraisers.