The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) ended August with $37.6m in cash against $18.7m for the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC). Both figures come from the September Monthly reports the committees filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on 20 September12. The two committees are the parties' official Senate campaign arms. On 1 August the NRSC had led by $16.3m; by 31 August it trailed by $18.9m.
The NRSC's own spending explains the reversal. It reported $45.92m of coordinated expenditures with its Senate candidates in August, against $1.00m from the DSCC. A coordinated expenditure is party money spent on a candidate's advertising in consultation with the campaign. the Supreme Court removed the ceiling on it in June, and July's filings already showed the NRSC moving first. August turned that head start into a 46-to-1 gap.
The NRSC started the month with $56.2m and paid out $50.3m against receipts of $12.8m; the DSCC went from $39.9m to its closing balance. Five candidates took most of the Republican money: Jon Husted in Ohio ($10.03m), Ashley Hinson in Iowa ($8.24m), Michael Whatley in North Carolina ($7.96m), John E. Sununu in New Hampshire ($5.18m) and Mike Rogers in Michigan ($4.43m). The DSCC's largest cheques went to Troy Jackson in Maine ($366,000) and Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan ($329,000). What the NRSC has left is less than half of what it spent coordinating in August alone, so matching that pace in October depends on new receipts or on allied super PACs.
Republicans have a case for spending early. Airtime booked in August costs less than airtime bought in October, and race ratings follow polls rather than budgets. Cook Political Report moved New Hampshire, where Sununu received $5.18m, towards Republicans this month. What the filings establish is sequence and cash position: on 31 August the Senate committee with money left for October was the Democratic one.
