GOP party committees enter final stretch with double the Democrats' cash, FEC filings show

The six national party committees filed their last full reports before Election Day on Oct. 22, and the numbers show Republicans holding a sizable cash advantage heading into the campaign’s final weeks, even as Democratic committees raised more over the first half of October.

The reports, known as pre-general filings, cover Oct. 1 through Oct. 14. Under Federal Election Commission rules, party committees that file monthly submit the pre-general report, due Oct. 22, in place of their November monthly report. The next full accounting, the post-general report covering activity through Nov. 23, is not due until Dec. 3.

Cash on hand

The Republican National Committee reported $76.2 million in cash on Oct. 14 and no debt. The Democratic National Committee reported $21.6 million in cash and $15 million in debts owed.

On the Senate side, the National Republican Senatorial Committee ended the period with $25.2 million in cash and $20 million in debt, while the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee had $20.7 million in cash and $15 million in debt.

In the House, the National Republican Congressional Committee reported $46.5 million in cash, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee reported $30.7 million. Neither House committee listed any debt.

Taken together, the three Republican committees held about $147.9 million against roughly $73 million for the three Democratic committees, a gap of about 2 to 1. The NRSC’s $20 million was the only debt reported among the Republican committees, while the three Democratic committees reported $30 million combined.

Raising and spending in early October

Democrats outraised Republicans during the two-week window. The three Democratic committees took in about $44.6 million, led by the DSCC’s $28 million, the largest haul of any of the six. The DNC raised $8.5 million and the DCCC $8.1 million.

The Republican committees raised about $30.4 million combined: $13.9 million for the NRCC, $9.9 million for the NRSC and $6.6 million for the RNC.

Spending was close to even. The Democratic committees reported about $71.6 million in disbursements and the Republican committees about $69.4 million. The heaviest spenders were the DCCC, at $33.2 million, and the DSCC, at $32.3 million. The RNC spent $27.7 million and the NRCC $28.7 million.

That spending drew down several balances. The DCCC’s cash fell from $55.8 million at the start of October to $30.7 million, according to its filing. The NRCC’s dropped from $61.3 million to $46.5 million, and the RNC’s from $97.3 million to $76.2 million. The DNC was the only one of the six to finish the period with more cash than it started with, rising from $19.2 million.

For the full year, the RNC reported $169.2 million in receipts since Jan. 1, the most among the six committees, followed by the NRSC at $149.7 million and the NRCC at $146.5 million. The DCCC reported $141.4 million, the DSCC $136.5 million and the DNC $106.5 million.

The party committee totals capture only part of the money in the midterms, since candidate campaigns and outside groups report to the FEC separately.

The next accounting

None of the six committees reported any independent expenditures on line 24 of their pre-general filings, according to the detailed summary pages.

Because the post-general reports are not due until Dec. 3, the filings submitted Oct. 22 are the last full snapshot of the national parties’ finances that will be on file with the FEC before Election Day on Nov. 3.