The campaign arms for House Republicans have not seen the massive slump in fundraising that many feared following the ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA).
The California Republican was a prolific fundraiser. Just last cycle, McCarthy raised $28.2 million in his campaign committee alone, not including his leadership committees or the groups aligned with him. On the contrary, coming into the job, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) was an inexperienced fundraiser who had only ever raised $6.1 million since being elected in 2016, and there were concerns that Johnson and groups aligned with him would struggle to raise money to hold the House majority.
BIDEN SKIPS CLIMATE CONFERENCE AS HIS GREEN AGENDA IS CRITICIZED AT HOME
But those fears have not been substantiated as groups aligned with House Republicans have continued their fundraising prowess.
Right after Johnson became speaker, the National Republican Congressional Committee, the campaign arm of House Republicans, reported a single-day haul of $175,000 for online fundraising, marking its highest day since February 2022. That cycle record was broken just one day later, resulting in a total haul of more than $475,000 over the first weekend with him as speaker.
It’s not just Johnson, either. Other members of the House Republican leadership are stepping up to help fund the NRCC, transferring millions of dollars to the campaign committee.
In a closed-door conference meeting on Wednesday, Johnson and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) announced they were transferring a combined $4.5 million to the committee.
Johnson transferred $2.5 million, and Scalise transferred $2 million. This combined transfer is nearly the full amount that the NRCC raised in October.
“Growing the majority is a team effort, and we are fortunate to have excellent partners like Speaker Johnson and Majority Leader Scalise,” NRCC national press secretary Will Reinert said in a statement.
Johnson has also been hitting the fundraising trail as well. On Monday, he attended a fundraiser in Florida with Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL), where he raked in $1.4 million. He will also be in New York over the weekend for the NRCC donor retreat. While in New York, he will be hosted at a fundraiser by Blackstone’s Steve Schwarzman and Wayne Berman. This fundraiser will benefit Johnson’s newly formed joint fundraising committee and other New York candidates.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
He will also attend a fundraiser for swing district Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY).
On the other hand, the super PAC Congressional Leadership Fund and the nonprofit American Action Network, both of which are closely aligned with Johnson, raised $16 million in the 10 days after the newly elected speaker endorsed the group’s leadership, easing concerns about the group’s ability to rake in money in a post-McCarthy era.
