As Donald Trump and Republicans have spent the past three months displaying their complete incompetence when it comes to governing the country, Democrats are raking in boatloads of money in states where the GOP is supposed to perform well in 2018.
According to Politico, the early fundraising numbers are “giving [Democrats] an early shot of momentum heading into the midterms.”
More from the report:
Though no one denies Senate Democrats are in for a rough 2018 midterm election, a host of their vulnerable incumbents just posted some eye-popping fundraising numbers — a sign the party won’t easily cede more ground to Republicans next year.
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Of the 10 Senate Democrats up for reelection in states Donald Trump won last fall, six brought in at least $2 million in the first quarter of 2017. Most Democrats far outpaced fundraising compared with the two Senate Republicans being targeted by Democrats next year: Dean Heller of Nevada and Jeff Flake of Arizona, both of whom raised $1.4 million during the first three months of the year.
And on average, Senate Democrats in competitive races outraised GOP incumbents at the same point in the 2016 election cycle.
The same report notes that potential GOP candidates “collected middling amount by comparison” compared to the Democratic candidates.
The solid fundraising numbers are just the last indicator that Republicans are in trouble.
In a special election in Kentucky last week, Republicans were able to hold their House seat in the 4th congressional district, but not before it swung a full 20 percentage points toward the Democrats in just five months.
Tonight in Georgia’s 6th congressional district, the GOP is also on the defensive, hoping to ward off strong Democratic underdog Jon Ossoff in another district that Donald Trump won in last year’s presidential election.
Ossoff is currently close to crossing the 50 percent threshold he needs to avoid a run-off election, but it’ll likely come down to the wire.
Even though the 2018 landscape is incredibly favorable to Republicans, all the early signs indicate that the energy, momentum, and money is on the side of the Democrats.
If they can ride this wave into 2018, they could very well outperform expectations in a year which Republicans are expected to do well.
Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
