Small donors fuel a great democratic advance by raising funds in 2018

An army of Democrats giving money on the Internet has provided party House candidates with a powerful financial advantage over Republicans in the final weeks of the 2018 midterm election, with Democrats participating in Most competitive room raising their rivals to over $ 78 million.

Democratic challengers far outstripped Republicans by pulling millions of million-dollar online supporters – a strategy used by Barack Obama and Bernie Sanders in presidential elections, but which has never been replicated on a massive scale. in the races in the House.

Of the 69 most competitive home races, Democrats collected a total of $ 46 million from small donors in the 2018 elections, compared to only $ 15 million for their Republican opponents, according to campaign funding data released this year. week.

The Democrats took a total of $ 252 million in these races during the campaign, against $ 172 million for the Republicans. The gap among small donors represents about 40% of the overall financial advantage of Democrats.

Nicco Mele, director of the Harvard Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, said the dramatic rise of Democratic candidates for Congress reflected the convergence of two forces: the steady growth of online political donations for more ten years and the unique passion of the Democrats this year to challenge Mr. Trump.

"We have moved in that direction," said Mele, a former political strategist who has set up online awareness campaigns. "I think when we look back, we will not see this year as an exception."

The wave of online donations on the Democratic side has turned the campaign for control of the Chamber of Deputies, reducing the financial power that Republicans expected to wield in the last few fights to retain their majority. Republicans have long enjoyed stronger support than Democrats among wealthy donors and in much of the business world. The party can still count on a network of superpacs sumptuously funded to cover the advertising of many districts in the coming weeks.

But the influx of Democratic donations has touched every corner of the house, whether it's high-profile shopping in the suburbs of New York and California, or in more rural areas, to Conservative trend, from Indiana, Kansas and Alaska.

Many Democratic nominees have relied less on money from wealthy check writers and industry groups who tend to support incumbents, instead taking advantage of the devastating political energy of the clueless liberals Across the country. Andrew Janz, a California Democratic Attorney, has raised $ 4.3 million since June, as part of a long-term challenge to Representative Devin Nunes, Chairman of the House's Intelligence Committee, allied with high notoriety President Trump. (The race is not among the 69 considered the most competitive by The New York Times.)

Mr. Janz, who appears to have collected more donors than any other candidate for the Democratic Congress in the last quarter, despite the lack of help from the national party, said that he had benefited from the fact that Mr. Nunes was "globally hated by the progressives".

"We have put in place, I think, a credible national message that revolves around the eradication of corruption in Washington," Janz said in an interview. "And Nunes is at the heart of it all."

Democrats without lightning Republican opponents also revealed a considerable number of fundraisers. Amy McGrath, a former Kentucky fighter pilot, and Kansas lawyer Sharice Davids, is believed to be one of the first Native American women elected to Congress.

Ms. McGrath has raised $ 3.6 million over the last three months and Mrs. Davids $ 2.7 million. The two women raised more than a fifth of their money in the 2018 campaign from small donors.

During the last quarter, a number of Democrats in tight races appeared to capitalize on Republican ads from the super PAC, thus converting the Democratic indignation against Republican tactics into campaign donations. Antonio Delgado, an African-American lawyer who is appearing for the Congress in Hudson Valley, New York, raised $ 3.8 million, in part by decrying Republican ads, calling him a "rapper of big cities."

In Virginia, Abigail Spanberger, a former intelligence agent, cashed $ 3.6 million after a Republican group, the Congressional Leadership Fund, was notified of obtaining a copy of her confidential certification application federal security. The document contained information that the group has since used in the attack ads.

Tiffany Muller, president of End Citizens United, a Democratic group that advocates strict rules on campaign finance, said the Democratic candidates had indeed reversed the traditional model of congressional campaign funding. She said the Democrats had collected so many small contributions in part through a targeted message against corruption and the influence of corporate money on political life.

"This is not just a reaction against Trump," said Ms. Muller. "This is a fundamental difference in the way we fund campaigns."

Republicans continue to play an important role in fundraising with the super PAC, which allows campaigning groups to collect money in unlimited amounts from high net worth individuals. The main Republican group focused on the House's defense, the Congressional Fund for Leadership, has accumulated and spent a huge amount this cycle, raising about $ 126 million and ending last month with $ 36 million to spend.

House Republicans particularly relied on a small number of extremely prolific political donors as the political climate darkened. More than a third of the funds raised by the Congressional Fund for Leadership were provided by two people: Sheldon and Miriam Adelson, who gave the group $ 50 million from their fortunes at the casino.

Yet in recent days, Republican strategists have warned of a "green wave" that was coming close to the left – a tide of Democratic money flocking online to dislodge entrenched lawmakers. This money, given directly to the candidates, gives the Democrats of the fiercest races a better chance to defend against a barrage of Republican ads.

Corry Bliss, who heads the Congress fund, warned donors in a memo last week that Democratic candidates were flooding Republican candidate advertising.

"Democrat candidates spend $ 50 million on Republican candidates in key races," Bliss wrote, citing the "green wave" metaphor and noting that Democrats also had funders, including Michael R Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City.

Mele said the Republicans had clearly failed to match the Democrats' enthusiasm for online political contributions, noting that the party had been struggling for years to match the infrastructure built by Democrats to raise small dollars. .

"There is no ActBlue in the Republican Party," said Mele, referring to the website as the main fundraising portal for Democrats. "And by the way, I know at least three attempts to create one."