Donald Trump -backed candidates are oppressed by their main rivals

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Some of Donald Trump’s chosen candidates face an obstacle in their efforts to cleanse the Republican Party of Trump skeptics: money. Lots of it.

Driving the news: Trump-backed major challengers were severely outraised by their main Republican opponents late last year, newly filed financial reports show.

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The monetary advantage has the potential to play a decisive role in closely watched major contests in the House and Senate this midterm year.

And its lack could cause a problem for some candidates endorsed by Trump because of personal affiliation, or simply a hatred of the more moderate Republicans they want removed from office.

By the numbers: The trend is most evident in Wyoming.

The incumbent, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), More than four times hauled fundraising in the fourth quarter of her top main opponent, fellow Republican Harriet Hageman.

Cheney’s $ 2 million haul, his best fundraising quarter, came as he led efforts to investigate Trump’s role in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol-which angered the former president.

Hageman reported an increase of $ 443,000.

Other Republicans who, like Cheney, voted to impeach Trump early last year, also surpassed the challengers supported by Trump.

Si Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) brought in nearly $ 1.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2021. Her Trump-backed challenger, Kelly Tshibaka, raised just over $ 600,000.

Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) Raised approximately $ 726,000, more than five times the $ 135,000 taken by main rival Steve Carra.

Rep. Jamie Herrera Buetler (R-Wash.) Raised $ 525,000 on challenger Joe Kent’s $ 306,000.

John Gibbs, challenging Rep. Peter Meijer (R-Mich.), Only entered the race in early November, but the $ 51,000 he earned in the last two months of the year was less than Meijer’s Q4 pace of total $ 530,000.

Even in some contests with no explicit Trump antagonist, candidates endorsed by Trump face a money raid.

The story continues

Rep. Mo Brooks, the Trump -backed Republican running for an open seat in Alabama’s U.S. Senate, earned an average of $ 385,000 in the fourth quarter.

Republican rival Katie Boyd Britt more than tripled that tug; he already has more than $ 4 million in the bank, compared to less than $ 2 million for Brooks.

Meanwhile, a late race participant, Army veteran Mike Durant, put more than $ 4 million of his own money behind his campaign last year.

Yes, but: Trump himself is taking political money.

His political operations brought in $ 51 million in the second half of the year, and now has more than $ 122 million in cash on hand.

It’s unclear how much of that Trump is willing to spend directly on behalf of the candidates he endorses.

Although he freely distributed it, the donation limits meant he would not be able to single-handedly rotate the fundraising of any candidate.

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