The Republican National Committee surpassed the $200 million fundraising mark in record time for a midterm election cycle, leaving its Democratic counterpart more than $100 million behind.
After raising $13.9 million in June, a record for that month in a non-presidential year, the RNC reached $213 million for the 2017-2018 election cycle, according to a party official. As of the latest numbers, the RNC has $50.7 million cash on hand and zero debt.
"What I see when I travel the country is that Americans continue to be enthusiastic about President Trump and the Republican agenda," RNC chair Ronna McDaniel said. "That enthusiasm has allowed for me to grow our war chest and invest it into what has become the biggest ground game in our Party’s history."
The RNC has five times the cash on hand that the DNC has. A Democratic Party official said its total fundraising haul for the year is only $101 million.
The RNC and DNC will both make their complete fundraising numbers public Friday when they file with the Federal Election Commission.
DNC chairman Tom Perez told CNN they have measured expectations of what they can do to counter Republicans in the midterm elections.
"For me, the north star is not can we match them dollar for dollar," Perez told CNN of the RNC. "It is can we raise the money we need to execute our game plane."
The DNC has also had debt issues the RNC has not had to worry about. The DNC's May FEC filings showed it $5.7 million in debt, making its budget much tighter than that of its Republican counterpart.