More than half of Senate Democrats voted with Republicans in December to increase fundraising limits for the political parties. The change was tucked in the 1,599th page of a 1,603-page budget deal. Given how aggressively Republicans are taking advantage of the new rules, and how little they seem to be benefiting Democrats, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid may regret his support. The Republican National Committee raised almost $26 million in the first quarter of 2015, $10 million more than the Democratic National Committee — even though the DNC has President Barack Obama headlining fundraising events. The RNC owes its advantage to huge donations, which were formally prohibited.
More than two dozen Republican contributors have donated amounts in excess of the previous cap of $32,400 for each federal party committee — the RNC, the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee. Federal Election Commission reports show that from January through March, 26 big donors poured a combined $4.7 million into those three Republican Party committees.
The three comparable Democratic committees have only two such donors; each gave $50,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Their combined $100,000 in contributions equals less than a third of the $300,600 that coal billionaire Joseph Craft alone gave to the RNC in the same period, according to FEC records. Neither the DNC nor the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has a single individual donation above $33,400.
Full Article: Democrats Eased Way for GOP Mega-Donors – Bloomberg View.