Republican Senate Chair Predicts Majority Win Despite Fundraising Gap

Sen. Steve Daines, chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, confidently declares that his party will regain control of the Senate in the November elections, despite facing a fundraising deficit against Democrats.

LAS VEGAS - For the first time, Sen. Steve Daines of Montana, chair of the Senate Republicans' campaign committee, has definitively stated that his party will recapture control of the chamber in November's elections.

"We will win the Senate majority," the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) chair declared in an interview with Fox News Digital. "Fifty-one is the number that we want to get to. Clearly, there's an opportunity to get beyond that, but 51 is the number we've got to get to," Daines added.

Republican Senate Chair Predicts Majority Win Despite Fundraising Gap

Democrats currently hold a razor-thin 51-49 margin in the Senate, but Republicans see a favorable election map this year, with Democrats defending 23 of the 34 seats up for grabs.

One of those vulnerable 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 not seeking re-election, flipping the seat seems likely for the GOP.

Republican Senate Chair Predicts Majority Win Despite Fundraising Gap

Additionally, in Daines' home state of Montana and in Ohio, two states Trump comfortably carried four years ago, Republicans aim to defeat Democratic Sens. Jon Tester and Sherrod Brown.

Five more Democratic-held seats are up for grabs this year in crucial presidential-election battleground states, including Wisconsin, Nevada, Michigan, Arizona, and Pennsylvania.

Republican Senate Chair Predicts Majority Win Despite Fundraising Gap

Despite Democrats' efforts to protect their fragile Senate majority, former GOP Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland's entry into the Senate race in February has given them an unexpected headache in a state previously considered safe territory.

Minutes after speaking with Fox News, Daines addressed top-dollar donors and conservative activists, emphasizing the need to close the fundraising gap between GOP and Democratic campaigns.

Republican Senate Chair Predicts Majority Win Despite Fundraising Gap

"We need your help to close the fundraising gap," Daines urged. "We have the right candidates. Let's get them the resources they need to win."

In his interview, Daines acknowledged the GOP's fundraising deficit as a "concern."

"There are winnable races right now that we may not be able to bring across the finish line because of lack of resources. We are literally two months away from the most consequential election of my lifetime," Daines emphasized. "That's why we're working very, very hard to make sure we're ringing that alarm bell to get to donors."

Democrats have outraised and outspent their Republican counterparts in the battle for the Senate majority, and they have reserved more ad spending for the final two months leading up to Election Day on Nov. 5.

Senate Democrats and outside groups supporting them have made significantly larger post-Labor Day ad reservations in four of the seven key Senate battlegrounds: Wisconsin, Nevada, Michigan, and Arizona. In each state, Democratic ad reservation spending is at least double that of their respective Republican opponents.

Overall, Democrats have an advantage with nearly $348 million in planned spending in pivotal races across the country ahead of election day, compared to Republicans' over $255 million.

The relatively small GOP expenditures in Wisconsin, Nevada, Michigan, and Arizona appear to be the result of massive prioritized pro-Republican Senate ad buys in Montana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Republicans are managing to outspend Democrats in these states, but their opponents have still boasted similarly large planned spending. In Ohio, while Republicans had $81.9 million reserved, Democratic future spending wasn't far behind at $78.3 million.

Fueling the financial disparity is the surge in Democratic Party enthusiasm and fundraising since Vice President Kamala Harris replaced President Biden at the top of the party's 2024 ticket in the White House race against former President Donald Trump.

"You just saw in the last 48 hours Kamala Harris announce she's directing $25 million of her presidential campaign dollars down-ballot, including $10 million for Senate Democrats," Daines noted. "There's not many things Kamala Harris does well, but one thing she does well is raise money. So, this does have us concerned."

However, Daines believes a silver lining exists in Harris replacing Biden as the presidential nominee.

"What it does is it helps us take the age issue off the table, because that was one of the reasons that Biden did so poorly. It was more about his age than anything else," Daines said. "This now gets us laser-focused on policy. This is going to be a policy contrast election. . . . For the first time in decades, we have the results of two different administrations to run against – President Trump's four years and Kamala Harris' four years. Two very different administrations – very different outcomes. That contrast, we think, will be very helpful for us in the key Senate races."