Democrats raise $100 million from grassroots after Justice Ginsburg's death

The death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg led to a massive explosion in fundraising from grassroots Democratic donors, who opened their wallets to donate to Democratic candidates and groups seeking to stop Donald Trump from replacing the liberal justice less than six weeks out from the 2020 election.

Since 8 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, when news of Ginsburg’s death broke, Democratic candidates up and down the ballot raised more than $100 million, according to ActBlue, a Democratic fundraising platform.

The money came in at a record-setting pace, with Democrats raising $6.2 million in the first hour and $6.3 million in the second hour after Ginsburg’s death was announced, the New York Times reported.

That shattered the previous highest hourly fundraising record of $4.3 million or for ActBlue, which was set after Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden delivered his nomination acceptance speech on the final night of his party’s convention.

Fundraising is a key metric in campaigning. It’s seen as a sign of enthusiasm for a candidate or cause, and it can be critical in determining the outcome of an election.

According to a FiveThirtyEight analysis, “more than 90 percent of candidates who spend the most win.”

Democratic fundraising was already worrying Republican strategists before Ginsburg’s death, as Senate Democratic nominees challenging GOP incumbents this fall set fundraising records this summer.

In fact, in nine of the 11 most competitive Senate races this fall, Democrats have outraised Republican candidates, according to an analysis from Bloomberg Government.

Those Senate Democratic challengers are likely to see another major boost in the six weeks leading up to the election, as a large chunk of that $100 million fundraising haul went toward Senate Democratic candidates.

A fundraising effort called “Get Mitch or Die Trying,” which is raising money for every Senate Democratic nominee to try to win back the Senate majority from Mitch McConnell, had raised $21 million since Friday night. The fund will split the donations evenly between 14 candidates, meaning every candidate will get at least $1.5 million.

Democrats see winning back the Senate as a way to either block a Trump court pick or change the make-up of the court if Trump successfully rams through a nominee.

Republicans’ Senate majority was already at risk before Ginsburg’s death, according to nonpartisan political handicapper Nathan Gonzales.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.