Parties battling for control of state legislative chambers across the country will pump tens of millions of dollars into local races over the next two months, as major donors on both sides of the aisle fuel a surge of interest in down-ballot contests.
The Republican State Leadership Committee said Tuesday it had committed $34 million to key races so far this year, including special investments in absentee and early voting programs aimed at banking votes for GOP candidates.
The Democratic National Committee, meanwhile, said it would give $2.5 million to the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, the largest grant of support from a national party committee to its state-level affiliate in modern times.
The DLCC had raised $35 million by the end of June, when the second quarter of the year came to a close. The DLCC has set a target budget of $60 million for the year.
The heads of both organizations said the substantial investments showed national donor interest in races where just a few thousand dollars can mean the difference between a majority and a minority.
“This election is an opportunity to harness the new energy and momentum we are seeing to ensure that Democrats are successful up and down the ballot,” Heather Williams, the DLCC’s president, said in a statement. “Down-ballot races are often decided by a handful of votes, which is why every dollar invested in this ballot level can go so far in shaping whether core freedoms are advanced by Democrats or rolled back by Republicans.”
Dee Duncan, who heads the RSLC, warned that Democratic groups — including the DLCC and two major outside groups — were poised to outspend Republicans in key races. But, he said, spending money now, about two months before Election Day, would represent a strategic advantage.
“By investing early and supporting strong Republican candidates, we are able to maximize our funds over the course of the cycle so we can secure decisive victories in November,” Duncan said in a statement.
The two sides are likely to spend the bulk of their money on the same states where Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump dump hundreds of millions in their battle for the White House. Republicans said Tuesday that they would invest in legislative races in Arizona, Minnesota, Michigan, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — all states where Trump has campaigned in recent weeks.
Republicans control the legislature in Arizona by the narrowest of margins, and both chambers in New Hampshire by a slim edge. They hold supermajority control in Wisconsin, though new legislative district lines are likely to give Democrats a significant number of pickup opportunities.
Democrats control legislatures in Michigan and Minnesota by small margins, after capturing control in both states in the 2022 midterm elections. The Pennsylvania legislature is the only divided legislature in America, where Republicans hold the state Senate and Democrats run the state House.