By Sarah Ewall-Wice, Senior U.S. Political Reporter for DailyMail.com in Washington, DC
18:01 21 Apr 2024, updated 18:02 21 Apr 2024
- Four Republican candidates in battleground races have put more than $15 million of their own money combined into Senate bids
- Democrats are out raising them despite self-funding
- Candidates spending on their campaigns has had mixed results in past election cycles and ended with brutal finishes for some in the 2022 midterms
As Republicans set their sights on flipping the Senate come November, they’ve recruited an selection of GOP Senate candidates who are willing to put millions of dollars of their own money into bids to unseat Democrats.
While using personal wealth to fund campaigns is not new, it has taken a more prominent role in politics as races for public office have grown increasingly more expensive and Democrats have trounced Republicans in fundraising in a series of recent election cycles.
This year, nearly all the Republican candidates looking to unseat Democrats in the biggest battleground Senate races are putting their own money into their bids.
They’ve already put a combined nearly $16 million of their own money toward their races.
But putting personal fortunes toward political aspirations has had mixed success and has, in some cases, been a headache as candidates have had to counter attacks about potential conflicts of interest.
Wisconsin businessman and banker Eric Hovde: $8 MILLION
In Wisconsin, Republican Eric Hovde is running to unseat Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin.
The businessman and banker, who is CEO of his family’s real estate development company and Sunwest Bank which operates in the western U.S. and Florida, loaned his campaign $8 million in the first three months of the year.
It makes up the vast majority of the money raised by the campaign since he launched his bid in February. Only $1 million has come from donors.
This is not the first time Hovde has put his own millions into a Senate bid.
The businessman put more than $5.5 million into a failed bid back in 2012.
Former hedge fund CEO David McCormick: $1.9 MILLION
In Pennsylvania, David McCormick has loaned his own Senate campaign more than $1.9 million so far.
McCormick previously served as the CEO of one of the biggest hedge funds Bridgewater Associates and was an Under Secretary of the Treasury under President Bush.
But fueling his own money into a political campaign has not always been a sure win for him.
In 2022, McCormick lost the Republican Senate primary to Dr. Mehmet Oz even as he loaned his campaign more than $14 million.
Businessman Bernie Moreno: $4.5 MILLION
Self-funding a campaign also did not prove to be fail safe more recently in the Ohio Senate primary.
Trump-backed businessman Bernie Moreno won the primary last month beating out Matt Dolan in a close race where Dolan put $10.2 million of his own money into his campaign.
But Moreno also had a leg-up in the three-way race as well.
He has put $4.5 million into his own Senate bid through the end of March.
Meanwhile, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose perhaps started that three-way race with the most name recognition, but he didn’t have the personal wealth to compete the same way.
Ex-Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy: $1.45 MILLION
In Montana, Republican Tim Sheehy has loaned his campaign more than $1.4 million in the election cycle to date.
Sheehy is the CEO of Bridger Aerospace, aerial firefighting company with multiple government contracts that went public with a valuation of nearly $900 million last year.
Financial disclosures also show he has a number of investment and business holdings. If elected, Sheehy would be one of Congress’ wealthiest members.
In total, the four Republicans looking to unseat incumbent Senate Democrats have put up some $15.8 million for their campaigns in races that are expected to be some of the most expensive in the country.
‘Every election the Democrats have virtually unlimited campaign funds, super PAC dollars and dark money at their disposal to smear our Republican candidates,’ said Mike Berg, communications director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
‘That is why NRSC put an emphasis on recruiting candidates who are either strong fundraisers or have the ability to make a personal investment in their campaign this time round,’ he added.
Self-funded winners (Donald Trump) and losers (Mike Bloomberg)
While challengers are putting their own money where their mouths are, filings show Florida Senator Rick Scott, who is also up for re-election this year, loaned his own campaign more than $6.9 million this cycle, though not this year.
Scott is an example of a self-funding candidate who has been successful. During his 2018 campaign, he put $51 million of his own money into the race, but won the race by only 10,000 votes, triggering an automatic recount.
Indiana Senator Mike Braun was another self-funded candidate in 2018 who won. He gave his campaign more than $10 million. He is not seeking reelection in 2024, instead running for governor.
Meanwhile, Democrat in some of the most competitive Senate races this cycle have not up the same amount of cash themselves.
Democrats in battleground Senate races were able to out raise Republicans during the last midterms by hundreds of million of dollars. Recent filings show incumbent Democrats raking in millions more than their opponents even without contributing their own money.
But when it comes to self-funding this cycle, there is one prominent Democratic exception.
Maryland holds its Senate primary next month as Democratic Senator Ben Cardin retires in the blue-leaning state.
Rep. David Trone is one of several candidates running in the competitive race.
The congressman who currently represents Maryland’s 6th congressional district has put more than $41 million of his own money into his campaign, according to recent filings.
Berg noted Trone self-funded more than all the GOP candidates combined to date.
Perhaps the most well known past self-funding campaigns have been those for president. But those efforts have also had mixed results.
Donald Trump put more than $66 million of his own money into his successful first presidential campaign largely in the 2016 primary as well as taking donations, but he has not used his own money into the 2020 campaign or the 2024 election so far.
New York billionaire Mike Bloomberg spent a whopping $1 billion on his failed bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020 only to drop out of the race four months after announcing his campaign.
When it comes to the Senate, self-funding has been known to come up short.
Dr. Oz put nearly $27 million of his own money into his failed 2022 Senate campaign in Pennsylvania only to lose to Democrat John Fetterman by nearly five points.
One of the biggest lines of attack against him was a carpetbagger who lived in New Jersey. It is a line that is already being used against McCormick who while owning a home in Pennsylvania, spent much of his time in Connecticut.
That same election season, Milwaukee Bucks executive Alex Lasry put nearly $15 million of his own money into his Wisconsin Senate campaign, but he ended up dropping out of the Democratic race just weeks before the primary.
Trudy Busch Valentine lost the Senate race in Missouri by more than 10 points after putting $16 million into her bid.
Mike Gibbons put more than $18 million into a failed Ohio Senate bid against opponent JD Vance.
Congressional candidates poured about $300 million of their own money into self-funding campaigns in the 2022 midterm election cycle but few ultimately won their races, a new OpenSecrets analysis found.
‘The self-funded candidates usually lose,’ said Sarah Bryner, research director at OpenSecrets, the nonpartisan research group tracking money in politics.
‘That’s typically because when you are able to finance your own campaign, that’s great for you, but it keeps you from needing to make connections with the people who will actually vote for you. So you’re not out there trying to raise money,’ Bryner said. ‘You’re not out there trying to get your name out as much. And that ultimately will hurt you at the polls later on.’
She noted that some self-funded candidates who have seen success are ones running in safe districts, but a lot of the time there are also very wealthy candidates who put money into races they had not chance of winning.
This cycle, self-funding has led to ethics questions, concerns over conflicts of interest, and outright attacks of candidates attempting to buy political office.
The majority of self-funded candidates in 2022 were Republicans who spent $211 million while Democrats spent $86 million of their own money.
But self-financing made up just 8 percent of the $3.6 billion campaign funds raised.
Of those who spent more than $1 million of their own money in 2022, the vast majority lost their bids to go to Washington.
While self-funding has proven a challenge for engaging potential voters, there are some advantages. Candidates often have the ability to combat super PAC spending without rushing to raise cash.
It also gives them an early advantage when it comes to placing ad buys and making other campaign investments.
