2020 campaign funding favoring Dems

Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) outraised Sen. Cory Gardner (R) in the latest quarter in Colorado's high-profile Senate race.

Hickenlooper, who launched his senate campaign after dropping out of the White House race, raised more than $4 million in the first quarter of 2019, compared with about $2.4 million for Gardner, according to new filings with the Federal Election Commission. However, Hickenlooper has only about $4.9 million in the bank, while Gardner has $9.6 million cash on hand.

Hickenlooper announced his Senate campaign against Gardner in August after lackluster polling forced him out of the presidential race. He had previously ruled out a Senate run but was heavily courted by establishment Democrats who are eager to unseat Gardner.

The former governor will have to face off against a host of other Democrats in Colorado’s primary scheduled for June but has the backing of the party’s Senate campaign arm and is the favorite to win.

  The Hill

And, two big ones:

Democratic Senate candidate Jamie Harrison outpaced Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.) in fundraising during the first three months of 2020, marking the first time the Democrat has done so this election cycle.

Harrison raised more than $7.3 million in the first quarter of the year, dwarfing the $3.5 million he raised in the fourth quarter of 2019 and setting a new South Carolina record for fundraising in a three-month period, his campaign said.

Graham's campaign also surpassed previous fundraising highs and raised $5.6 million, bringing the senator's total cash on hand to $12.8 million. The total represents the most a state or federal candidate has ever raised in South Carolina history, his campaign said. Harrison has a little more than $8 million on hand.

  The Hill

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's Democratic opponent Amy McGrath outraised the longtime Republican senator in the first quarter of 2020 as Kentucky’s Senate race emerges as one of the most expensive battles of the election cycle.

McGrath, who has received a litany of endorsements from national Democratic figures, reported raising $12.8 million in the first three months of 2020 and ended the period with $14.7 million cash on hand. McConnell hauled in $7.5 million and finished the first quarter of the year with $14.9 million in the bank in his bid for a seventh Senate term.

[...]

McGrath’s haul is a gargantuan total for any Senate candidate, particularly a nonincumbent, and follows several other strong quarters. Though the Kentucky Democrat still has to win a primary race against state Rep. Charles Booker and Lincoln county farmer Mike Broihier, she is still the heavy favorite to win the Democratic nomination and face off against McConnell in November.

  The Hill