Senators facing the most competitive reelection fights on the initial 2026 battleground map are mostly beginning the cycle with modest war chests that are likely to grow as they transition into campaign mode this year.
The same is also true for most House members in so-called crossover districts, where voters backed the opposite party’s presidential nominee, new federal filings show.
Meanwhile, some red-state Republican senators who could be vulnerable in primaries closed December with millions on hand, which could act as a deterrent to potential challengers.
What’s clear, according to the 2024 year-end fundraising reports filed at the end of last week with the Federal Election Commission, is that lawmakers in both parties have work to do to keep up with the high costs of running congressional campaigns.
Here’s a closer look at the state of fundraising for key Senate and House incumbents heading into 2025.
Battleground states
Four senators up for reelection are in battleground states, according to an initial analysis by Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales.
Maine Sen. Susan Collins, who in 2020 was the only Republican senator to win in a state won by Joe Biden, raised $295,000 during the three months that ended Dec. 31 and ended the month with $2.6 million in the bank. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who won his 2020 race by 1.8 percentage points, raised more than $900,000 in the final months of 2024 but had slightly less on hand, with $2.2 million.
On the Democratic side, Georgia’s Jon Ossoff is the most vulnerable senator up for reelection, especially after Michigan Sen. Gary Peters announced his retirement last week. But Ossoff appears to be preparing for an expensive race, raising $2.2 million in the fourth quarter and ending the year with $5 million on hand.
New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen hasn’t said whether she’s running for a fourth term in a state that’s been tougher for Republicans on the federal level in recent years but that just elected a new GOP governor. Shaheen raised $170,000 in the fourth quarter and had $1.5 million banked.
Preparing for primaries
Among Republican senators whose greatest electoral threat lies in the primary, Louisiana’s Bill Cassidy has already drawn an intraparty challenge from former Rep. John Fleming, now the state treasurer.
Cassidy, the chair of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, raised $849,000 in the fourth quarter and ended the year with $6.6 million on hand. That’s far more than Fleming, who announced his campaign in early December and raised $36,000 by the end of that month, mostly from a $30,000 personal loan. Fleming, who lost a Senate race in 2016, ended the year with $19,000 in the bank.
Cassidy, who was censured by the Louisiana Republican Party after his 2021 vote to convict Donald Trump at his second impeachment trial, isn’t the only Senate Republican to be criticized for not being supportive enough of the president’s agenda. Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst drew primary threats at the end of last year when it was unclear whether she’d support Pete Hegseth’s nomination for Defense secretary. Ernst ultimately did vote to confirm Hegseth.
The second-term senator raised $611,000 in the fourth quarter and started the year with $2.2 million on hand.
South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham had one of the largest war chests ahead of his campaign for a fifth term at $15.6 million and brought in $2.1 million during the fourth quarter. GOP Rep. Ralph Norman has left the door open to a primarying of Graham.
Texas Sen. John Cornyn, who could face a primary challenge from state Attorney General Ken Paxton, had $4.1 million on hand to begin 2025 after raising $720,000 during the final three months of last year.
Retirement watch
Peters’ decision to retire comes as the two-time Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee chair reported raising $496,000 in the fourth quarter, leaving him with $7.1 million on hand at the end of 2024.
A bipartisan trio of octogenarians who haven’t yet announced whether they’ll seek reelection each reported raising less than some of their colleagues in the final quarter of last year. Still, Republicans Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Jim Risch of Idaho and Democrat Richard J. Durbin of Illinois each entered 2025 with over $1.5 million on hand.
Age isn’t necessarily a deterrent for senators when deciding whether to run for reelection. For example, Vermont independent Bernie Sanders easily won a fourth term last year at 83 and Iowa Republican Charles E. Grassley, now the Senate Judiciary chairman, won an eighth term two years earlier at 89.
McConnell, who has had health concerns in recent years and stepped down as Senate GOP leader this Congress, only raised $99,000 in the fourth quarter but reported $8.1 million in the bank at the end of the year.
Durbin, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, raised $110,000 in the fourth quarter and had $1.7 million on hand. Durbin has said he’ll decide by early this year whether to seek a sixth term.
Risch, the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, raised $118,000 in the fourth quarter and began the year with 2.4 million on hand.
House snapshot
Sixteen House members – 13 Democrats and three Republicans – represent districts that voted for a House member and presidential nominee of opposite parties. Nearly all of these lawmakers had competitive races last year and had to spend heavily to win. Their seats make up an initial list of districts expected to be competitive in 2026.
Three of those members ended 2024 with over $1 million on hand: Pennsylvania Republican Brian Fitzpatrick had $4.4 million; New York Democrat Tom Suozzi had $2 million; and California Democrat Josh Harder had $1.7 million.
The others each had less than $500,000 banked at the close of last year, with four House Democrats on the list reporting less than $50,000.
Those included Washington Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez ($26,000), Michigan freshman Kristen McDonald Rivet ($17,000), New Mexico Rep. Gabe Vasquez ($39,000) and longtime Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar ($48,000).
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