NEW: Democrats Hit With Devastating Blow As Senate Hopes Dwindle

Republicans in Washington, D.C., are keeping a close eye on next year’s U.S. Senate map, which is favorable but also boasts several vulnerable incumbents who must be protected if they are to keep a majority after 2026.

Their hopes were buoyed on Tuesday as the main fundraising arm for Senate Republicans reported a record-smashing haul for the first half of 2025, surpassing already lofty expectations and putting its incumbents and challengers in a formidable position 16 months before Election Day.

The Senate GOP’s top super PAC and its affiliated entities raised a combined $85 million in the first half of the year, more than doubling their previous record.

The largesse underscores how potent Republicans’ fundraising prowess has become under Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), who assumed his position after Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), another fundraising powerhouse, announced his decision to step down from leadership and not seek reelection.

Alex Latcham, executive director of the Senate Leadership Fund, credited President Donald Trump with being more involved than he had been when McConnell was in charge of the effort.

Latcham co-runs the PAC alongside former Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) after the duo took over from Steven Law, a close McConnell ally.

“We’re working with [the White House] to identify and vet Senate candidates,” Latcham told Axios, describing Trump’s involvement as an asset “as we navigate some of these primaries.”

Conversations with the White House have come at a “regular cadence, whether it’s in person, over the phone,” he added.

The group has already begun investing in Georgia, North Carolina, Maine, Alaska, and Nebraska, where strong Republican incumbents, open seats, and embattled weak Democratic senators present one of the most favorable maps in recent years.

The SLF also plans to back Republicans like Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), who is vulnerable to a primary challenge from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and trails in the latest polls.

SLF and its network of outside organizations more than doubled the $38 million record haul set back in 2023, Latcham said. They start the second half of 2025 with $83 million in cash on hand, while the SLF alone has $29 million.

That’s three times as much cash on hand at this point in 2023, and five times as much as in 2021, he added.

Latcham credited Thune with being an active chair committed to fundraising call time, whether at home in his district or on the road stumping for his colleagues.

Excitement around the start of the second Trump administration is also greasing the tracks.

“Obviously, you’ve got the crypto community, which is more engaged in politics writ large,” Latcham went on, referencing President Trump’s wading into cryptocurrency opportunities with his family’s business empire.

A growing number of “cord-cutters,” primarily younger voters who have been more disengaged or harder to reach, will be a focus of SLF spending on streaming services next year, he explained. Much of the strategy, carried out in partnership with the White House, will focus on turning out Trump supporters who are less likely to vote in midterm years.

“What will not change is that SLF will continue to be the preeminent outside group dedicated to, you know, keeping and expanding the Senate Republican majority, ” Latcham said.