'Utter chaos' puts GOP House majority in jeopardy as donors focus on Senate: report

Republican donors are banking on taking back the Senate majority, but are less motivated to invest in the House which they see as currently mired in chaos, according to a report Tuesday.

The House GOP's campaign arm fell behind in fundraising last month, bringing in just over $5 million, while donors are noticing the Senate is up for grabs with just two seats needing to be flipped to retake the majority, and the retirement of Sen. Joe Manchin (R-WV) making one of those a near certainty for a pickup, reported Politico.

“Lots of uncertainty in the House and lots of uncertainty in the White House,” said Scott Jennings, a longtime ally to Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell. “But the Senate Republicans have a clear line of success.”

“Donors are going to be smart enough to realize exactly where an investment is going to make a huge amount of difference,” Jennings added.

The Senate Leadership Fund and its related organizations, all of which are tied to McConnell, are on pace to raise more than the $400 million gathered in last year's election cycle, according to a source close to the group, and three individuals close to GOP donors say some of the party's biggest givers are shifting their focus away from the chaotic House and a presidential primary that Donald Trump seems to have already locked down.

“The Senate is where they’re going to focus,” said one of those sources. “Now, that all changes tomorrow if Nikki Haley is the nominee, but I don’t think anybody thinks that’s going to be the case.”

Fundraising fell off last month for the House GOP's campaign arm as right-wing lawmakers ousted Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as House speaker and went three weeks without a leader, and they have 18 members that must be re-elected in districts won by President Joe Biden in 2020 to keep their majority, which currently sits at five.

“If there’s anything that’s going against the House’s ability to raise money, it’s the utter chaos that people have seen play out over the last two months,” said one GOP operative who works on Senate races. “The chaos reduces the confidence in their ability to hold on to the majority, and the majority is so tight to begin with.”