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The midterm elections might be historically difficult for the controlling party, but Republicans are building a war chest to break that trend, reporting smashing first quarter fundraising totals of $47.1 million, including a record $28.1 million in March alone.
The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) was set to report the strongest first quarter fundraising haul in its history Monday, according to figures shared first with Digital, giving House Republicans a fresh sign of financial momentum as they look to defend their narrow House majority in a cycle that has often favored the party out of power.
“This historic fundraising quarter proves House Republicans have a tremendous amount of enthusiasm behind our agenda to lower costs and keep Americans safe,” NRCC Chairman Richard Hudson said in a statement to .
“House Republicans are united, battle-tested, and building the financial firepower to protect our majority and take the fight directly to Democrats’ extreme agenda.”
President Donald Trump leaves the stage during the National Republican Congressional Committee’s annual fundraising Presidential Dinner at Union Station on March 25, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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NRCC officials are framing the numbers as part of a broader trend they say has defined the cycle so far, with Republican incumbents and allied groups posting stronger-than-usual early fundraising numbers and narrowing, or in some cases reversing, Democrats’ traditional money advantage.
The NRCC is staking claim to having outraised the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) on average for five straight quarters, including snapping a long-standing trend by outraising the minority party in the first year of an election cycle for the first time in decades in 2025.
The NRCC reported this week its swing-district patriots have raised an average of $1.2 million and hold $3.5 million cash on hand, compared to $919,000 raised and $2.4 million cash on hand for DCCC frontliners.
Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise, House Speaker Mike Johnson and Oklahoma Rep. Tom Cole appear during a news conference in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 8, 2025. (Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg)
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“Vulnerable House Democrats are getting outraised, outworked, and outmatched. Republicans have the momentum, and the money is following it,” NRCC spokesman Mike Marinella said in a statement last week.
The financial windfalls do not end there.
The House Speaker Mike Johnson-backed Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF) and its nonprofit American Action Network (AAN) have raised a combined $192.6 million thus far in the 2025-2026 cycle. Those groups brought in a combined $56.6 million in the first quarter of 2026, which Republicans say is a record for the first quarter of a non-election year. CLF alone raised a record $38.1 million and is expected to report $91.4 million cash on hand.
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Top House GOP leaders have also posted eye-catching numbers, according to the NRCC:
- Johnson himself raised $34 million in the first quarter and more than $116 million in hard dollars this cycle
- House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., raised more than $10.1 million in the quarter, bringing his cycle total above $45.6 million.
- House Majority Whip Tom Emmer raised $9.2 million in the quarter, pushing his cycle total past $38 million.
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The committee also pointed to the wider President Donald Trump-aligned fundraising network, noting that MAGA Inc. entered 2026 with more than $300 million cash on hand.
“This unprecedented momentum is part of a sustained trend that’s held this entire cycle and is now accelerating,” Marinella said in a statement to . “Republicans are consistently outpacing Democrats in the money race where Democrats have traditionally dominated.”
“This is a fundamental shift from the traditional dynamic where Democrats build an early financial edge and force Republicans onto defense,” he added. “That script has flipped.”
Insiders pointed out to that circumstances of the spring have combined to provide the unprecedented financial push, including Trump peacemaking in the Middle East and wildly successful military operations in Venezuela and Iran.
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Also, Democrats have been hurt in the fundraising coffers by House Oversight, Judiciary and Administration committee investigations into the big-ticket Democrat fundraising platform ActBlue, and the Senate Democrat-forced government shutdown of Department of Homeland Security funding.
Notably, the record NRCC March came amid massive spring break delays and four- to eight-hour security line waits at crowded spring break airports, which were hamstrung by Transportation and Security Administration (TSA) agents not showing up because they were not getting paid for work.
