WASHINGTON, Nov 7 — South Carolina Democrat Jaime Harrison shattered US Senate campaign fundraising records this year, as he amassed a stunning US$109 million (RM450 million) war chest for an election drive intended to unseat three-term Republican Senator Lindsey Graham. That financial firepower...
Even massive warchests couldn't win Senate elections for the Democratic Party. — Reuters pic
For Harrison, 44, it meant a loss by more than 10 percentage points after largely running neck and neck with Graham in pre-election polls. Other Democrats lost in Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Montana and Texas. Senate Democrats are already calling on supporters to send campaign contributions to Georgia candidate Raphael Warnock.
Democratic candidates raised a whopping US$626 million in 14 highly competitive races, vastly overshadowing Republican collections of US$386 million in the same contests, according to FEC filings.Aside from the surge of Republican voters, strategists and political analysts suspect Democratic spending may have reached the point of diminishing return, while aiding Republican claims that some races were being distorted by outside money.
Both Democrats and Republicans say Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s decision to push through U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation ahead of the election energized Republican support for incumbents like Graham, 65, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee.