First on Fox: Top outside group backing Senate Republicans showcases fundraising haul

– As the GOP fights to win back the Senate majority, the leading super PAC that supports Republican incumbents and candidates says it hauled in $114.5 million during the July-September third quarter of 2024 fundraising.

And the Senate Leadership Fund (SLF), in sharing its fundraising figures first with Fox News on Tuesday, reports having $112 million cash on hand as of the end of last month.

The group, which is aligned with longtime Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell, noted that its fundraising the past three months included a $28 million contribution from One Nation, its allied non-profit organization.

And SLF touted that its haul over the past three months brings to $181 million its fundraising for the entire 2024 election cycle – and that it has raked in more this cycle than it did at the same point in the 2022 midterms.

‘Our goal from the outset of the cycle was to win back the majority by helping recruit great candidates and raising enough money to help them compete against entrenched, well-funded Democrats. As we approach Election Day, our donors have continued to support our efforts in these battleground contests, and we’re grateful for their generosity,’ SLF President and CEO Steven Law told Fox News in a statement.

Democrats hold a slim 51-49 majority in the Senate, which includes three independent senators who caucus with the Democratic conference.

That means Republicans need a net gain of either one or two seats to win back the majority – depending on which party controls the White House after this year’s presidential election.

The math and the map favor the GOP in 2024. Democrats are defending 23 of the 34 seats up for grabs. 

One of those seats is in West Virginia, a deep-red state that former President Trump carried by nearly 40 points in 2020. With moderate Democrat-turned-independent Sen. Joe Manchin, a former governor, not seeking re-election, flipping the seat is nearly a sure thing for the GOP.

Republicans are also aiming to flip seats in Ohio and Montana, two states Trump comfortably carried four years ago. And five more Democrat-held seats up for grabs this year are in crucial presidential election battleground states.

With Democrats trying to protect their fragile Senate majority, they received another headache in February when former two-term Republican Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland launched a campaign for an open seat in the heavily blue state.

SLF says that it and the allied group American Crossroads have reserved $228.5 million in television, radio and digital ads across Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan and started spending that money as of Labor Day. 

The two groups are spending a combined $82.5 million in Ohio, where longtime Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown is fighting for his political life against GOP challenger Berie Moreno, and $47.9 million in Montana, where polls indicate that Republican challenger Tim Sheehy holds a slight lead over Democratic Sen. Jon Tester.

SLF is spending $52 million in Pennsylvania, where polls point to Republican nominee Dave McCormick closing the gap against Democratic Sen. Bob Casey.

The group is also dishing out $23.6 million in a very competitive race in Wisconsin, where Republican Eric Hovde is challenging Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin, and $22.5 million in Michigan where former GOP Rep. Mike Rogers is facing off against Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin in the race to succeed longtime Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow.