Hotline On Call

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee raised over $1.9 million from the end of November through the end of 2012, according to a DCCC aide, while the National Republican Congressional Committee reported taking in $605,000 from November 27 through December 31. With that, the two House committees will start the 2014 cycle on an equal cash footing, each with $1.5 million in the bank. The DCCC has about $1.5 million more debt than the NRCC, however.

Overall, the DCCC reported raising just under $184 million in the 2012 cycle, though the committee incurred $13.45 million in debt. The Democrats outperformed their 2010 haul, when they were in the majority, and they also outraised the NRCC for the cycle -- the Republican committee took in $143.7 million, not including loans. The NRCC starts the new cycle with $12 million in debt.

Though the DCCC outraised the NRCC throughout the 2012 cycle, the Republican committee started on a better footing and ultimately spent more on independent expenditures: $64.7 million overall compared to $60.4 million by the DCCC. That's partly because the DCCC started the 2012 cycle in a deeper hole, with over $19 million in debt. With both party committees starting the next round of fundraising and campaigning on close to equal footing, the DCCC could be poised to press its fundraising advantage more fully, if its prolific grassroots small donors can keep up the torrid pace they set last cycle, when the DCCC raked in over $60 million in small individual contributions.