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Less than two months before Election Day, only 13 Senate Republicans have met their fundraising goals for the campaign committee in charge of salvaging their November hopes, according to internal numbers reviewed by The Hill.
Senate Republicans have set goals of raising between $750,000 and $3 million for the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) and GOP Senate candidates this cycle, but 22 of the 49-member conference are less than 50 percent of the way to meeting their individual targets.
The lack of fundraising has infuriated Sen. John Ensign (Nev.), the head of the NRSC, who criticized his colleagues last month and warned that he would slash money for independent advertisements in key races.
Through the end of July, the NRSC has just $25.4 million in cash on hand, compared to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee’s (DSCC) $43 million. This comes despite a huge electoral advantage for Democrats, who have to defend just 12 seats compared to the Republicans’ 23.
Adding to the difficulty in raising money, aides and lawmakers say, is the poor environment for congressional Republicans, who are widely expected to suffer deep losses in November. And the Republican National Committee is focused on the presidential race, unlike in 2006, when it was pumping money into the congressional campaign trail. Plus several retiring Republican senators are far from meeting their goals.
“We are doing more with less and because of that we will be competitive with the DSCC over the next two months,” said Rebecca Fisher, a spokeswoman for the NRSC. She also said the committee has recently been exceeding its monthly fundraising goals.
Still, there are some Republicans who seem to be lagging in fundraising.
The poorest numbers have been posted by Sen. John Barrasso from Wyoming and Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), the party’s presidential nominee. Barrasso, who has a safe seat to defend this fall, has raised just $10,000 for the committee, even though he has a goal of raising $750,000 this cycle. McCain’s now defunct leadership political action committee (PAC) has raised $12,500 for GOP candidates this cycle, and he has only raised $250 for the NRSC. He has a goal of raising $1.25 million this cycle.
McCain and centrist Chuck Hagel (Neb.), who retires this year, are the only Republican senators not to attend an NRSC event this cycle.
Sen. Jim Bunning of Kentucky, who faces reelection in 2010, has raised just $50,000 out of a $750,000 goal. Bunning has about $176,000 in cash on hand, while his Political Hall of Fame PAC has racked up about $61,000, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine, who faces voters again in 2012, has about $907,000 in cash on hand, according to FEC records. For the NRSC, she gave only $92,040, or only 7 percent of the way toward meeting her $1.25 million goal this cycle.
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