Democrats Tell Donors the Senate Can Counter the Supreme Court

The head of Democrats’ efforts to retain their narrow majority in the Senate is pitching donors on the importance of having a check on the Supreme Court and control over judicial nominations.

Democrats attribute “a surge in donations” to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the candidates they support in part to a series of controversial Supreme Court decisions that came down just days after the first 2024 presidential debate, Christie Roberts, the committee’s executive director, said in an interview at the Bloomberg Government office.

“There is a unique role the Senate plays in the future of the court that matters a lot to Democratic donors,” Roberts said. “We’re actually seeing people double down on the Senate races and think that it is more important than ever that that Democrats be successful.”

The committee entered June with $48.3 million, according to its most recent disclosure, outpacing the National Republican Senatorial Committee’s $41 million.

After the Supreme Court’s decision in 2022 to eliminate a federal right to abortion, reproductive rights became the “one unifying issue” for the ideologically diverse coalition of voters Democrats will need to maintain their narrow majority in the Senate in November, Roberts said. Nevada and Florida are among the states with competitive Senate races that also will have abortion ballot initiatives in November.

“I can’t overstate how much the overturning of a 50-year precedent unnerved voters, especially some of the voters that maybe are a little less politically engaged,” Roberts said. “It’s a deal-breaker issue for them.”

Roberts said internal data since the June 27 debate shows Senate races “holding steady or even moved a little in our direction in the last two weeks,” indicating voters are prepared to split their ticket between races for president or Senate.

A Bloomberg News/Morning Consult tracking poll of battleground states found former President Donald Trump ahead by just two points, while a RealClearPolitics aggregation of competitive Senate races show Democrats ahead of their GOP challengers in those same states.

Roberts attributed that gap in part to the vulnerabilities in the business backgrounds of Republican challengers. To illustrate her point, aides printed out 442 of pages of negative news stories about GOP candidates loosely attached with two inch-wide binder clips.

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“Voters are making a different decision, a different assessment of the Senate race and the other ballot races,” Roberts said. “It is a testament to the strength of our candidates and the weakness of the other team.”

Roberts for the second cycle in a row is leading the party machinery responsible for supporting Democratic Senate candidates. In the 2022 cycle, her party defied expectations and grew the Senate majority.

Senate Democrats led by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) are now defending a one-seat edge. A number of Democrats are seeking re-election in states Trump carried in past cycles, including Sens. Jon Tester (Mont.) and Sherrod Brown (Ohio). Democrats already expect to lose retiring Sen. Joe Manchin’s (I-W.Va.) seat to Gov. Jim Justice (R).

“As campaign operatives, we are students of historical trends and take them very seriously,” Roberts said. “But also recognize when we are in an unusual, historic election.”