Of the 31 Republicans whom Democrats have vowed to oust in 2023, three raised more than $1 million in the second quarter of the year, including Rep. Michelle Steel.
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Of the 31 Republicans whom Democrats have vowed to oust in 2023, three raised more than $1 million in the second quarter of the year: Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), Young Kim (R-Calif.) and Michelle Steel (R-Calif.). And many more came close — notably, some of those in the GOP’s toughest turf such as Michigan’s Macomb County, New York’s Hudson Valley, and northern Los Angeles County.
None of the incumbents or leading candidates in three dozen Democrat-held seats that Republicans are targeting crossed that million-dollar threshold.
“While there’s still time to address the fundraising gap, Democratic incumbents are going to need to step it up if they are serious about taking back the majority,” said one Democratic strategist involved in House races who was granted anonymity to speak candidly.
But the good news for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is that Republican challengers are not posting particularly impressive numbers in battleground seats. Of those three-dozen targeted Democrats, only six have a GOP opponent who raised more than $200,000 during the second quarter.
In fact, none of the challengers who filed against Reps. Angie Craig (D-Minn.), Sharice Davids (D-Kan.) and Kim Schrier (D-Wash.) — who each had blockbuster races in 2022 — raised more than $60,000.
One exception is the GOP challenger to Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio). In one of the GOP’s most sought-after seats, former Ohio state Rep. Craig Riedel outraised Kaptur, the House’s longest serving woman member, by roughly $177,000.
Some Democratic challengers, too, posted impressive hauls. Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) was outraised by one Democrat vying to face him, Andrei Cherny. In New York, Josh Riley also brought in about $150,000 more than GOP Rep. Marc Molinaro — and several challengers to the embattled Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) outraised the indicted freshman congressman as well.
Democrat Adam Frisch, one of 2022’s surprisingly strong challengers, brought in a staggering $2.6 million for his campaign against Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.). But in most cases, Democrats’ totals were not enough to surpass the incumbents’.
Democrat Adam Frisch brought in a staggering $2.6 million for his campaign against Rep. Lauren Boebert.