Biden-skittish donors may shift gifts to House and Senate races: report
Some Democratic donors are grappling with the possibility that President Joe Biden could lose re-election following widespread intraparty concerns over his health and debate performance — and one consequence of that could be to turn their money toward House and Senate races.
According to Axios, "deep-pocketed Democratic donors" told party leaders they plan to up their commitment to Senate candidates, particularly Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), who is running for Senate to replace independent Kyrsten Sinema.
House candidates, too, are seeing a surge, with one Democratic lawmaker saying they're having the "easiest call time ever" during their fundraising work.
Biden, for his part, had a massive haul in June, raking in $127 million. The flip side, however, is a reported fear among some Democratic strategists that he will face reduced fundraising going forward.
Polling has already indicated many Democratic Senate candidates in key battleground states are running ahead of Biden. The idea among donors is that in the event Biden loses, their money can at least prevent Donald Trump from having unified control of Congress, which would limit his oversight and give him wider policy latitude to enact his agenda.
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It's a similar dynamic to 2016, when Republicans, beaten down by Trump scandals like the release of the "Access Hollywood" tape, shifted their focus to down-ballot races to try to prevent former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton from entering the White House with full control of Congress votes to confirm a Democratic-majority Supreme Court — fears that ultimately didn't pan out as Trump carried the election and won a unified Congress himself.
Most Democratic lawmakers remain committed to standing with the president. At a fundraiser in Virginia today, the report noted, Rep. Don Beyer lauded Biden as "resilient, optimistic, indefatigable and above all courageous."