After three months of prodigious fundraising this year, House Democrats and Republicans both carry the same amount of debt — about $8 million — at the start of the 2012 election cycle.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced Thursday morning that it had cut its debt by more than half in the past three months, down from $19.5 million in the red at the beginning of the year. House Democrats’ chief campaign arm also raised slightly more than its GOP counterpart, bringing in $19.6 million over the course of the first three months of the year and reporting $4.6 million in the bank.

The National Republican Congressional Committee, however, has almost twice that amount on hand with $9 million in its cash reserve, according to a committee spokeswoman. The committee raised $18.1 million during the first quarter.

Under the leadership of new DCCC Chairman Steve Israel (N.Y.), House Democrats also announced that this was the strongest off-year first quarter in DCCC history.

The NRCC boasted that the committee had its best quarter since 2006 and raised more than double its haul in the first quarter of 2009.