Nationally, Democrats may have a fundraising crisis. That’s according to Michael Whitney, a former Bernie Sanders fundraiser, writing in Politico. However, the fundraising concerns don’t appear to be trickling down to Kansas political parties.
In the last six months, the Republican National Committee has raised almost double, $75 million, what the Democratic National Committee raised, $38 million.
“The party has a serious fundraising crisis,” he writes. The crisis isn’t simply related to dollar amount. Whitney says the bigger challenge is the kind of money each party is attracting.
“Republicans have quietly taken a decisive edge over Democrats when it comes to small-dollar fundraising,” he writes.
The national Republican Party raised $33 million in small contributions, which Whitney defines as those giving $200 or less. The Democratic Party raised $21 million from small donors during the same time frame.
“This isn’t just about money,” Whitney writes. “Small-dollar donors are an important measure of how much grass-roots enthusiasm a campaign or organization has. They are the supporters who will show up to knock on doors, make phone calls and get out the vote.”
Though there’s a marked difference between how much money the Kansas Republican and Kansas State Democratic parties raised in 2016, neither party can boast much in the way of small donors. In January, the Kansas Republican Party reported $17,486 of cash on hand. The party raised more than $599,000 in the final few months of 2016. The Kansas Democrats raised more than $321,000 over the same time frame. They finished the year with $2,099 of cash on hand. The Democrats have the advantage in small donors, however. Two individuals donated to the Kansas State Democratic Party in the last reporting period. Every donation to the Kansas Republican Party during the same period came from campaign funding for Kansas House and Senate candidates.