The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced Thursday that it had raised $6.1 million in May, yet again setting a record for the most money raised in a particular month during a non-election year.
This year, the chief political arm of the House Democrats has repeatedly posted strong fundraising numbers despite representing the minority party in the House of Representatives. While the National Republican Congressional Committee has not yet released its fundraising totals for May, the Democratic committee has out-raised its Republican counterpart in each previous month in 2012.
During the month of May, the DCCC cut its debt load in half, from $4.1 million to $2.1 million, while increasing its cash on hand from $10.4 million to $11 million.
The Democratic committee was aided at the end of the month by two Chicago fundraisers featuring President Barack Obama -- a top-dollar event at the home of Democratic funders Bettylu and Paul Saltzman and a more modest, but still pricey, event at the downtown Chicago Hilton. The fundraisers were also attended by top House Democratics including Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
In April, Obama's appearance at DCCC fundraisers in San Francisco netted $3.25 million for the committee.
Overall, the DCCC has raised $34.1 million in the first five months of the year. The committee's online fundraising program has brought in $7.3 million, according to a DCCC aide.
UPDATE: 7:19 p.m. -- The National Republican Congressional Committee reported raising $4.7 million in May, over $1 million less than the DCCC. The chief House Republican campaign committee ended last month with $9.5 million cash on hand and $4.75 million in debt.
The two rival party committees raised their funds from dramatically different sources, according to their Federal Election Commission reports filed on Thursday.
The DCCC pulled in about 41 percent of its $6.1 million haul from small donors giving under $200 ($2.5 million) and another 41 percent from individual donors giving over $200 ($2.5 million). Other significant amounts came from political action committees, which gave $276,750, and transfers from the campaign committees of congressional Democrats and joint fundraising accounts, which gave $233,000.
The NRCC relied much more heavily on PAC donations ($1.3 million) and transfers from Republicans' campaign coffers and joint fundraising accounts ($1.2 million). Donors giving under $200 contributed $1.1 million to the committee, as did donors giving over $200.
Before You Go
