Trump’s Republican Critics Raise Campaign Funds

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Republican critics of Donald Trump have amassed campaign money this year, as their votes to impeach the former president and investigate the Jan.6 attack on Capitol Hill put them in the crosshairs of Trump and his colleagues. allies.

Why it matters: The 2022 midterms won’t just determine which party controls Congress. They are also shaping up to be a test of Trump’s continued grip on the GOP. The few remaining Republican dissidents in Washington must raise big fundraising numbers if they hope to avoid a purge.

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Two main antagonists of Trump, Reps Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) And Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), Were in the foreground this week as the only Republicans on the House select committee investigating the attack on the Capitol. .

This has earned them the fury of Trump’s many Republican allies, but they and a larger cohort of Trump-skeptical Republicans are building huge political war chests nonetheless.

What’s New: Americans Keeping Country First, a super PAC created in late February to defend Republicans who voted to impeach Trump this year, is expected to report $ 525,000 in income through the end of June, the group told Axios.

This puts him at or above the fundraising pace of independent political groups that prey on the few remaining Republican critics of Trump in Congress.

One of those pro-Trump groups, Drain the DC Swamp PAC, grossed just over $ 600,000 in the first half of the year.

And America Strong PAC, which formed in early May to attack the 10 House Republicans who voted for impeachment, raised $ 51,000 in its first two months.

What They Say: “The good start for Americans keeping the country first reflects the broad support for Republicans who voted to put the country first,” Brendan Buck, senior adviser to the group, told Axios in a press release sent by email.

Cheney and Kinzinger themselves also raise huge amounts of funds for the first six months of an election year.

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Cheney raised over $ 3 million in the first half of the year. She has $ 2.8 million in cash.

Kinzinger’s campaign raised nearly $ 2 million and ended in June with more than $ 3 million in the bank. His PAC leadership has raised more than $ 1.5 million, according to a Federal Election Commission file Thursday.

This PAC leadership also paid money to Cheney and seven of the other Republicans who voted to impeach Trump in January.

Overview: Their impeachment votes and the Jan.6 select committee cost the two members the support of the national Republican base and its media allies. A recent poll showed that Cheney 43 points underwater with GOP voters.

They also significantly outperform their competition within the party.

Former Trump Commerce Department official Catalina Lauf, Kinzinger’s top most-funded Republican opponent, has raised just over $ 350,000 since her campaign began from February through June.

Cheney’s main challenger, Wyoming State Senator Anthony Bouchard, raised about $ 550,000 through the end of June.

Yes, but: It’s not just Trump allies or independent spenders Kinzinger faces, it’s Trump himself and a political operation that has raised $ 75 million this year.

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