While the spread of coronavirus has upended the lives of Americans across the country and changed the nature of campaigns, congressional candidates are still facing pressure to fill their campaign coffers — especially with Election Day roughly 15 weeks away.
This week, all candidates filed new campaign finance reports, detailing their fundraising and expenditures between April 1 and June 30, 2020. Here are some key numbers to know, based on an Issue One review of these new filings.
$2 million
The median amount of money raised during the second quarter by a sitting senator running for reelection in 2020 was $2 million — the equivalent of about $21,600 per day. That’s 15 times as much money as their colleagues who are not facing reelection this year, who typically raised $127,000 — about $1,400 per day. This is an increase from the first quarter of 2020, when the typical senator running for reelection raised $1.3 million ($14,300 per day) and other senators raised $132,000 ($1,500 per day).
$105 million
Combined, all incumbent senators raised about $105 million from individuals, political action committees, and other sources between April and June. That’s an increase from the first quarter of 2020, when all senators combined to raise about $79 million.
$157,000
The median amount of money raised between April and June by a member of the House of Representatives was approximately $157,000 — or about $1,700 per day. Meanwhile, the median amount raised by House freshmen was about $405,000 — or about $4,500 per day. The typical House incumbent running for reelection in a race rated as a toss-up by the Cook Political Report raised roughly $850,000 during the second quarter — about $9,300 per day, or more than five times as much money as the typical House member.
$146 million
Combined, all House members raised about $146 million from individuals, political action committees, and other sources between April and June. That’s an increase from the first quarter of 2020, when all House members combined to raise about $138 million.
How much pressure to raise campaign cash are lawmakers under? Lots. New @IssueOneReform analysis shows the typical House member in a toss-up race per @CookPolitical raised ~$850,000 between April and June, despite #covid19 pandemic — roughly $9,300 PER DAY pic.twitter.com/v0hsI9xwC4
