In their quest to flip the House, Democrats have sought to expand the battleground map by targeting seats in red-leaning terrain, and their candidates in these races dominated third-quarter fundraising, new filings show. 

But many of their Republican opponents, including vulnerable incumbents, entered October with larger bank balances, according to a CQ Roll Call analysis of the reports filed with the Federal Election Commission, as the fight for the House heats up in the campaign’s closing weeks. 

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has 46 candidates in its “Red to Blue” program for top recruits. And the average candidate in the program outraised their Republican opponent roughly 2-to-1 between July and September — $2.1 million versus $1 million.

Related: Senate Democratic candidates in red states dominate third-quarter fundraising

In total, 40 of the “Red to Blue” Democrats outraised their GOP rivals, including former California state Sen. Richard Pan, who’s challenging Rep. Kevin Kiley, an independent who caucuses with Republicans; and independent candidate Bill Hill, who has the DCCC’s backing as he takes on Alaska’s Republican freshman Nick Begich. 

Reps. Eli Crane of Arizona and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Tennessee candidate Charlie Hatcher, who knocked off Rep. Andy Ogles in an August primary, were among the six Republicans who outraised their Democratic opponents. Additionally, three GOP self-funders also posted bigger quarterly hauls: New York’s Anthony Constantino, who loaned his campaign $5 million, Florida’s Casey Askar and Nevada’s David Flippo. 

Among the top Democratic fundraisers in the “Red to Blue” group were those running in some of the most competitive House races this year: New York’s Cait Conley (who raised $5.4 million), Colorado’s Manny Rutinel ($4.2 million), New Jersey’s Rebecca Bennett ($3.9 million), Wisconsin’s Rebecca Cooke ($3.7 million), Arizona’s JoAnna Mendoza ($3.4 million), Texas’ Bobby Pulido ($3.3 million) and Arizona’s Amish Shah ($3.2 million).

Still, a majority of Republicans facing “Red to Blue” challengers closed the quarter with more cash on hand for the campaign’s final stretch, according to CQ Roll Call’s analysis of the latest filings. 

For example, while Conley outraised GOP Rep. Mike Lawler in New York’s 17th District in the third quarter, the congressman began October with $2.9 million on hand to the challenger’s $1.2 million. Similarly, Democratic former Rep. Elaine Luria outraised Republican incumbent Jen Kiggans in a rematch of their 2022 race for Virginia’s 2nd District, but Kiggans had nearly $1 million more in her account on Sept. 30.

Several recent additions to the “Red to Blue” list, including Wisconsin’s Mitchell Berman, who is challenging Rep. Bryan Steil; Arkansas’ Chris Jones, who is running against Rep. French Hill; and Colorado’s Dwayne Romero, who faces Rep. Jeff Hurd, outraised their opponents in the third quarter, but all began October with less in their campaign coffers. 

Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rates all the “Red to Blue” races as competitive, with the exception of a pair of contests in Tennessee: Hatcher’s race for the 5th District against Democrat Chaz Molder; and the redrawn 9th District race, which pits Republican Brent Taylor against Democrat Justin Pearson. 

‘MAGA Majority’

The GOP counterpart to "Red to Blue” is the National Republican Congressional Committee’s "MAGA Majority" program, which also includes several races on the Democratic list. 

GOP candidates in this group saw their Democratic opponents raise nearly twice as much as them in the third quarter, with the average Democrat hauling in $1.6 million compared with $867,000 for the Republican.

Nevada state Sen. Carrie Buck was a rare “MAGA Majority” Republican to report a larger third-quarter haul than her opponent. She once again outraised Democratic Rep. Dina Titus, $638,000 to $439,000. Titus had a slight cash-on-hand advantage at the end of the quarter.

Additionally, Republican Anthony DiLorenzo outraised Democrat Stefany Shaheen in New Hampshire’s open 1st District, though his $2.7 million haul included a $2.3 million personal loan. 

Most of the 27 Republicans in the "MAGA Majority" program ended September with less cash banked than their Democratic opponent, though seven had more on hand.

They included Florida’s Mike Beltran, who is challenging Democratic Rep. Kathy Castor in a seat redrawn to favor Republicans; New Mexico’s Greg Cunningham, who is taking on Democrat Rep. Gabe Vasquez; and Washington’s John Braun, who is vying for the seat of Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez.