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Democrats Announce Eye-Popping 3rd Quarter Fundraising Heading Into Final Stretch

Cait Conley raised an extraordinary $5 million for her raise to unseat GOP Rep. Mike Lawler in NY-19

By Russell Payne
Reporter · October 2, 2026

Democrats Announce Eye-Popping 3rd Quarter Fundraising Heading Into Final Stretch

Cait Conley raised an extraordinary $5 million for her raise to unseat GOP Rep. Mike Lawler in NY-19

Democrats running for House seats around the country are announcing record-breaking fundraising as the midterm campaigns enter the final weeks.

Some Democrats are getting a jump and announcing their third quarter fundraising totals ahead of the Oct. 15 deadline, and the numbers so far are eye popping. At the time of writing at least 13 Democrats running for House seats have announced their fundraising totals, with the top fundraiser so far being Cait Conley, who has raised $5 million in a closely watched race in New York’s 17th against GOP Rep. Mike Lawler.

Other notable fundraisers include JoAnna Mendoza, who is running in Arizona’s 6th on the southern border and raised $3.3 million in the past three months, and Bobby Pulido, a singer and songwriter running in Texas’s 15th District, took in $3.4 million.

In Colorado, Eileen Laubaucher and Jessica Killin raised $2.6 million and $2.1 million in their races in the 4th and 5th districts, respectively, and in Florida, Leela Gray (FL-13) and Rep. Kathy Castor (FL-14) collected $1.4 million and $2.5 million.

In New York’s 21st, Blak Gendebien raised $2 million and in Pennsylvania, Bob Brooks brought in $2.5 million for his race against Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (PA-07). In Virginia, Shannon Taylor received $2 million for her campaign to beat Rep. Rob Wittman (VA-01). Meanwhile in Iowa’s 1st, Christina Bohannan notched a $2.7 million third quarter, and in Kentucky, Zach Dembo added $1.35 million to his campaign account.

For context, the average freshman candidate for House raised about $2.9 million in the 2022 midterms over the whole cycle, while the average House member running for re-election raised around $2.1 million. The numbers announced so far have been for third quarter fundraising, meaning these candidates are on track to raise significantly more money than the average candidate did in 2022.

(Photo: Cait Conley, via Cait Conley for NY Facebook)

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