Johnson Reports Big Haul for First Quarter Fundraising

One of the main reasons that Speaker Emeritus Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) rose to leadership was his ability to fundraise.

The man was a legend on this front, contributing hundreds of millions to House election PACs every election cycle.

This was a concern when Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) was elected as Speaker, but he delivered fairly huge in his first term.

Big Money, No Whammies

Both the House fundraising arm and Johnson had good news to report at the end of the first quarter.

Johnson hauled in $20 million, significantly more than most expected for a first-term Speaker who did not really have a national profile before being elected as Speaker after McCarthy was removed.

Johnson, however, poured himself into the effort, and it clearly paid off.

He stated, "In less than six months as Speaker, we have hit the ground running to ensure House Republicans will have the resources necessary to win in battlegrounds across America — and we cannot slow down now.”

The GOP’s House fundraising arm also had an impressive first quarter.

Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), stated, "In a game of inches for the House majority where every seat matters, Republicans are out-recruiting, out-messaging, and out-hustling extreme Democrats.

"We are building momentum to grow our House Republican majority – this outstanding fundraising is proof we will have the resources we need to make extreme Democrats pay a price for failing America."

The RNCC raised more than $33 million, giving Republicans plenty of ammo to fight off the Democrat attempt to wrestle control of the House away from the GOP.

This is all great news for the GOP, as fundraising for Donald Trump has also picked up, with Trump raking in more than $50 million for his first big event of the month.

The GOP still trails Democrats overall in fundraising, but they never expected to raise more than Democrats. They only need to be within sniffing distance to have the same impact, especially in the case of Donald Trump, who makes significant use of social media for his ads.