It’s partly sunny in the Sunbelt: Fundraising numbers in AZ, NC, and TX
This year, three Sunbelt states give Democrats a major opportunity for state legislative gains: Arizona, North Carolina, and Texas. In Arizona and North Carolina, Democrats are in a strong position to flip both chambers of the legislature, while Democrats can break the GOP trifecta in Texas by flipping the State House.
In all three of these states, the data points to a path to the majority, and strong candidates have been recruited in key, flippable districts. The final piece of the puzzle is money, and that’s what we’re here to talk about today. All three of these states had end of June or early July filing deadlines, giving us an up-to-date look at the money race.
Here’s the big picture: in Arizona and North Carolina, our candidates’ strong fundraising can help them pull ahead in the weeks to come, if their momentum continues. Many of our Texas candidates have resources to run competitive campaigns, but without additional investment they’ll get swamped by GOP money.
If you want to make the biggest impact, click the donate button below to donate to the ten candidates we’ve endorsed across these three states who need your support the most. 100% of what you give will go directly to these candidates.
Democrats need to flip three Senate seats to flip the chamber, and EveryDistrict has endorsed candidates in three top flip opportunities. All three of our candidates posted strong fundraising numbers compared to their GOP opponents. Christine Marsh is running against a particularly prolific fundraiser, but she’s holding her own.
Democrats need to flip two House seats to flip the chamber, and EveryDistrict has endorsed candidates in the top two flip opportunities. Comparing fundraising in Arizona House races is a little harder because candidates compete for two seats. In these races, there is one Democrat and two Republicans, and the top two vote-getters will get elected. Here, we’ve compared our candidates’ fundraising against the worst-performing GOP candidate.
Democrats need to flip five seats to flip the North Carolina Senate; EveryDistrict has endorsed candidates running in the top four flip opportunities. We have not endorsed in SD 39, which has become a strongly Democratic-leaning seat post-redistricting and we expect Democrats to win that seat. North Carolina Senate candidates have also posted strong fundraising numbers; Donna Lake is running against a new incumbent who is a particularly strong fundraiser.
Democrats need to flip six seats to flip the North Carolina House, and EveryDistrict has endorsed candidates running in the top six flip opportunities. Candidates in the North Carolina House have also posted strong fundraising numbers.
Among these three states, the biggest gap emerges in Texas. Compared to the other states, Democratic House candidates in Texas are posting similarly impressive numbers. But Republicans in Texas have deep pockets, leading to the larger fundraising gaps. There are a few Democratic candidates in districts we need to flip who need a fundraising boost.
Here’s the bottom line: fundraising numbers in these states are pretty good. But most of these candidates have raised low six figures at most (compared to competitive U.S. House and Senate campaigns that have raised millions). None of these districts are easy wins, and all of these candidates need your support. Click here to chip in and make a donation and sign up for the EveryDistrict email list for other opportunities to make a difference for state legislative candidates in flippable districts.
A note about how we calculate cycle fundraising totals: All fundraising numbers contained in this post have been pulled directly from the in-state campaign finance reporting entities. Cash on hand is the amount each candidate has reported having in their bank account as of their latest report. We calculate cycle fundraising totals by adding total fundraising in 2020 and 2019. We also add to that total the final cash on hand amount for the last report in 2018, for incumbents or second-time candidates.