After nearly a decade of virtually ceding state legislative races to Republicans, the Democratic Party organization dedicated to winning those seats and other allied groups nationally are ramping up fundraising in a bid to win control of state chambers ahead of census-driven redistricting.
But funding disadvantages in individual races show the headwinds that persist…
An analysis of campaign fundraising by the Democratic-aligned group Forward Majority showed Democrats in competitive races for the Texas House have raised about two-thirds what Republicans have. In Arizona and North Carolina, swing-district Republicans have outraised Democratic challengers by just more than a third. In winnable Florida House races, Democrats have raised barely one-seventh what Republicans have.
“You get into the pickup races in these state chambers that are competitive, that are winnable, that are squarely in the path of power and … these are really bad numbers,” said Vicky Hausman, co-CEO of Forward Majority.
Read the full story from Roll Call.