Securing the Blue Wave
Schumer giving Democratic Senate candidates $15 million from his own campaign
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) reportedly plans to transfer $15 million of his own campaign funds to the Democratic Senate fund and to key Democratic candidates. Schumer is reportedly confident about his own re-election bid in New York. This information comes from an anonymous Democrat with knowledge of the senator's plans, reports The New York Times.
According to the insider, Schumer plans to send $1 million each to nine candidates — four incumbent Democratic senators, including Raphael Warnock in Georgia, Mark Kelly in Arizona, Catherine Cortez Masto in Nevada and Maggie Hassan in New Hampshire, and five Democratic challengers in battleground states, The Washington Post reports.
Schumer, who would likely return as Majority Leader if the Democrats keep their Senate majority, is using his funds to tip the scale in the Democrats' favor as the current 50-50 split in the Senate is at risk in the upcoming midterms. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-K.Y.) has voiced that his own party's "candidate quality" could pose a challenge, the Post details.
Senate Republicans are also facing monetary problems coming into the midterms. Democratic candidates, who prepared for a likely difficult re-election political climate, have been outraising their GOP counterparts. Usually, midterms tend to favor the opposite party of the president, however, a number of legislative wins and the overturning of Roe v. Wade have given Democrats hope to hold the majority.
Schumer said in a statement, "Keeping and growing the Democratic majority in the Senate is my top priority."