9 Democratic Senate challengers break state — and national — fundraising records
Maine's Democratic Senate candidate just set a fundraising record in her race to unseat a Republican — and she's not the only one.
Sara Gideon brought in $39.4 million in the third fundraising quarter of 2020, more than quadrupling Sen. Susan Collins' (R-Maine) haul from July to September. It's a record amount raised by a Senate candidate over a single quarter in Maine, and would've been a national single-quarter record if another Democratic challenger didn't already break it.
Before this year, Beto O'Rourke held a single-quarter record $38 million raised in his 2018 Senate race against Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). Jaime Harrison dwarfed that, announcing last week he had raised $57 million in Q3 as he tries to beat Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). Mark Kelly, the Democrat running against Sen. Martha McSally (D-Ariz.), also surpassed the old record with $39 million raised. Amy McGrath, a retired Marine fighter pilot, meanwhile shattered her state record in Q3, bringing in $36.9 million to unseat Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
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Iowa Democrat Theresa Greenfield also set a state record with $28.7 million to fight off Sen. Joni Ernst. Montana Gov. Steve Bullock (D) raised a record $26.8 million to double Sen. Steve Daines' Q3 haul. Cal Cunningham nearly quadrupled his fundraising from the quarter before to bring in $28.3 million in Q3 as he runs against Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.). Georgia's Jon Ossof raised a state record $21.3 million to replace Sen. David Perdue. And former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper brought in $22.6 million as he fights Sen. Cory Gardner — nearly five times what he raised the previous quarter.
The Cook Political Report has deemed Iowa, Maine, Montana, North Carolina, and South Carolina's Senate races toss-ups, as well as both Senate races in Georgia. Hickenlooper and Kelly are favored to win in Colorado and Arizona. McConnell's seat is meanwhile still likely to stay in his hands.
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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
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