Dem
51
GOP
49
A standard part of Donald Trump's stump speech is how he was cheated in 2020. He rants about it at length every time. Increasingly, some big Republican donors in swing states have had enough. Real estate mogul Ron Weiser, the former chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, gave Republicans $4.5 million in 2022, but has since closed his checkbook. He says it is "ludicrous" to claim that Trump, who lost Michigan by 154,000 votes, carried the state, The Michigan Republican Party had $116,000 in the bank as of March 31, 2023. Two years ago it was $867,000. State Chair Kristina Karamo said she was happy breaking ties to big donors in order to focus on grassroots donors.
The Arizona Republican Party is in even worse shape, as it had only $50,000 in the bank on March 31, 2023, down from $770,000 2 years ago. In the last year, it spent over $300,000 on legal fees, much of it to pay lawyers who represented then-chair Kelli Ward, who was part of a plan to certify false electors for Trump in 2020. Another $500,000 was spent on a bus tour of statewide Trump-backed candidates (all of whom lost) and an election night party.
Five other big donors to the Michigan and Arizona parties have stopped ponying up. When the money stops coming in but you are still spending like a drunken sailor, your bank balance dwindles. Many of the donors are talking about bypassing the state parties and donating directly to candidates they like. That's well and good, but the state parties are organized and can put boots on the ground—provided that they have enough money. Also, they can fund critical downballot races for the state legislature that big donors aren't even aware of.
On the other hand, some state Republican parties are in good shape. The North Carolina GOP had $800,000 at the end of last year. (V)