The Republican National Committee raised $14.2 million in July — the most it has ever raised in that month in a non-presidential year — bringing its total haul for the cycle to $227.2 million. Despite historic odds and voter enthusiasm favoring Democrats, the RNC is finding record-setting support among its donors, according to numbers shared first with CBS News. The RNC raised more in July of this year than it did in 2010 and 2014 combined.
“We’ve used our unprecedented grassroots support to build the biggest field program we’ve ever had to defend our House and Senate majorities,” RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement to CBS News. “History might be against us, but we’re making sure every voter knows we’re the party of results. All the Democrats have is resistance.”
After transferring 8 million dollars split evenly between the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) and the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) in July, the RNC started August with $41.9 million cash-on-hand and no debt.
According to its last FEC report at the end of June, the RNC had more than five times as much in the bank as the Democratic National Committee.
Democrats court West Virginians with pre-existing conditions
On Tuesday, President Trump will head to West Virginia, home to one of the most competitive Senate races in the country. Republicans are setting their sights on flipping incumbent Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin’s seat in a state that Mr. Trump won by nearly 42 percentage points in 2016 and where his approval rating remains high. A Gallup poll following Mr. Trump’s first year in office found that he received his highest approval ratings in 2017 from West Virginians.
State Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, who is running against Manchin, is tying himself closely to the president and his policies. His campaign issued a memo this past week saying Mr. Trump’s support “has a larger impact in this race than any Senate race in the country.” He is welcoming the President to West Virginia with open arms.
Manchin, however, is betting that this public embrace will backfire. He and his campaign are hoping to convince West Virginia voters that a vote for Morrisey is a vote against coverage for pre-existing conditions.
In a Cabinet meeting on Thursday, Mr. Trump touted the administration’s steady dismantling of Obamacare, saying, “And one of the big things is the individual mandate is gone. We got rid of that. That was from Obamacare. That was, by far, the most unpopular thing in Obamacare. We actually got rid of Obamacare, except for one vote. But…
