Senate fundraising figures

During the first nine months of 2005, candidates for the 33 Senate seats being contested in 2006 have reported raising $126.6 million with $132 million cash-on-hand.

It is difficult to compare Senate races across different election cycles because of differences in the size and level of competition in states, variations in retirement of certain Senators, and other unique factors. However, incumbent candidates currently running in 2006 raised $90.4 million, while in 2004 incumbents raised $65.6 million during the first nine months of 2003.

Forty-two Democratic candidates raised $73.7 million, which consisted of $58.6 million from individuals, and $9.2 million from PACs. Forty-three Republican candidates raised $52.9 million, which consisted of $37.2 million from individuals and $11.7 million from PACs.

Of those candidates challenging an incumbent for a Senate seat, Democrats raised $11.6 million thus far in 2005, compared to $3.9 million in the same period in 2003. For the same period, Republicans raised $8.5 million in 2005 compared to $4.5 million in 2003. It is important to note that there are 16 Republican incumbents running for reelection in 2006, compared with 14 in 2004, and 14 Democratic incumbents in both 2004 and 2006.

Candidates running for open seats raised only $16 million in 2005 compared to the same period in 2003 where $39.1 million was raised This may be because there were twice as many candidates for open seats in 2003. Additionally, there was substantial early fundraising in 2003 for the open seat in Illinois.

The chart on these pages lists the top 50 Senate campaigns ordered by receipts. For more statistics on Senate fundraising, such as the top 50 Senate campaigns ordered by cash-on-hand, contributions by PACs and other committees, as well as contributions by individuals refer to the November 10, 2005 press release.