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US Midterms 2026
26JUL

Democrats win the quarter, lose the bank

2 min read
10:41UTC

Filed FEC figures put the NRCC $13.7m ahead of the DCCC in the bank at 30 June, even though Democrats out-raised Republicans across the quarter itself.

PoliticsDeveloping
Key takeaway

Democrats are winning the fundraising quarter and losing the autumn advertising budget.

Filings made to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on 20 July put the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) at $92.7m in cash on hand at 30 June, against $79.0m for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), a gap of $13.7m 1. Across the same three months the DCCC out-raised its rival, taking $37.4m to the NRCC's $35.4m 2.

Those filed receipts replace a number this briefing series published last month. On 21 June we reported the DCCC's second quarter at $45.3m, taking the figure from the committee's own announcement . That $45.3m was the DCCC's first-quarter total, announced on 20 April, and the second quarter had not closed when we ran it. The DCCC's real second-quarter receipts are the $37.4m now on the FEC record, and we have logged a correction against that earlier event.

The Republican lead holds at every tier, as it has since May : Republican National Committee (RNC) $128.5m against Democratic National Committee (DNC) $16.3m, and National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) $55.9m against Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) $41.0m.

The two headline numbers measure different things, which is how both parties can claim the quarter. Cash on hand is the balance banked since January 2025. Quarterly receipts count only the last three months of fundraising. October advertising comes out of the balance.

The Supreme Court struck the caps on party coordinated spending in June , and that ruling has made every banked dollar go further. Section 315(b) of the Communications Act obliges broadcasters to sell candidates their cheapest available rate in the 60 days before a general election. Party committees do not qualify for it when they spend independently, but spending coordinated with a candidate does. Striking the caps moved party money into the cheaper half of the advertising market, so an NRCC dollar sitting in the bank now reaches more voters this autumn than the same dollar would have reached in 2024.

Deep Analysis

In plain English

Two different numbers get reported after every fundraising quarter: how much a campaign committee raised in the last three months, and how much it has left in the bank right now. The Democratic House committee (DCCC) raised more than the Republican one (NRCC) in the second quarter of 2026, but the NRCC still has more money banked overall, because banked cash reflects spending and saving across the whole two-year cycle rather than a single quarter. A recent Supreme Court ruling also made banked cash go further, because it lets party committees spend directly alongside a candidate's own campaign at cheaper advertising rates than an independent ad buy gets.

Deep Analysis
Root Causes

Cash on hand and quarterly receipts measure different things. Receipts count money raised in the three months just ended; cash on hand is the balance built up since the cycle began in January 2025, after subtracting everything already spent.

A committee can out-raise its rival in a single quarter and still trail badly on the balance that actually pays for advertising, because that balance reflects eighteen months of fundraising and spending decisions, not three.

What could happen next?
  • Consequence

    Cash on hand determines reservation power for autumn broadcast inventory, which is bought months ahead of election day and prices upward as it approaches.

  • Meaning

    Removing the coordinated-spending caps converts committee balances into candidate-rate advertising, stretching each banked Republican dollar further than the same dollar would have gone under the old rules.

First Reported In

Update #14 · 0-for-17 in court, and the map that held

National Republican Congressional Committee· 26 Jul 2026
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