Republican Party reveals it's had the worst fundraising year in a decade

The political party race for cash is leaving the GOP in the dust.

The Guardian's Hugo Lowell noted new numbers released by the Federal Elections Commission show the Republican National Committee has just $8 million cash on hand at the end of 2023 after the lowest fundraising year since 2013, which was the year after Republicans lost a presidential race.

Donald Trump has also had money problems after spending $50 million on lawyers and legal fees. More than half, $27 million, was spent in the last six months of 2023.

Just a few months ago, the Washington Post reported that there was just $9.1 million in the bank as of Oct. 30, 2023. At that time, it was the lowest the FEC showed for the party since Feb. 2015, and it dropped further in the remaining months of the year.

"That compares with about $20 million at the same point in the 2016 election cycle and about $61 million four years ago, when Trump was in the White House," the Post reported at the time.

Tennessee RNC member Oscar Brock told the Post in October, "It’s a revenue problem." The party was forced to start tightening expenses.

According to the Post, "donors have not cut as many large checks to the RNC in recent years, and the party’s small-dollar program has also suffered, according to people familiar with the party’s finances, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal party details."

All of this comes as three state Republican Parties are in disarray. The Michigan Republican Party is in a battle of the chairs, with two different people claiming to be the group's president.

The Oklahoma Republican Party voted to censure Sen. James Lankford after it was reported he was working with Democrats to craft a bipartisan immigration bill, though the chair of that party claimed that it was invalid because the vice chair went "rogue."

The chairs of both Florida and Arizona have been forced out in recent months. In Florida, they ousted the chair after rape allegations. In Arizona, the chair resigned amid a scandal in which he was recorded by Kari Lake as he encouraged her to drop out of the race.