WASHINGTON – Republicans urging full votes to come to Washington on January 6 to try to reverse the loss of President Donald J. Trump, to overthrow the election and the grievances that led to the Capitol’s deadly riot , benefited greatly. in its wake, according to new campaign data.
Senators Josh Hawley of Missouri and Ted Cruz of Texas, who led the challenges to President Biden’s victory in their chamber, each brought in more than $ 3 million in campaign donations in the three months following the January 6 attack on the Capitol.
Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who called the rampage a “1776 moment” and was later stripped of commission because he endorsed conspiracy theories and political violence, raised $ 3.2 million – more than the individual campaign of Representative Kevin McCarthy, the minority. leader, and almost every other member of the House leadership.
A New York Times analysis of the latest revelations from the Federal Electoral Commission illustrates how the leaders of the attempt to win Mr. Biden overthrew, took advantage of the outrage of their supporters to raise large sums of cash campaigns. They are not punished for encouraging the protests that have become deadly, but they have thrived in a system that often rewards the loudest and most extreme voices and uses the anger surrounding the riot to build their political brands.
“The outrage machine is powerful at making political contributions,” said Carlos Curbelo, a former Florida Republican congressman.
Shortly after the storm of the Capitol, some leading corporations and political action committees vowed to cease support for Republicans who have put out the flames of anger and conspiracy that have resulted in violence. But a financial setback from America, apparently to be dwarfed by an avalanche of cash from other resorts.
Representative Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina, a first-year student who encouraged her supporters to “lightly threaten” Republican lawmakers to contest the election results, has raised more than $ 1 million. Representative Lauren Boebert from Colorado – who, like me. Greene compared January 6 to the American Revolution – took in nearly $ 750,000.
The sums reflect an emerging incentive structure in Washington, where the biggest provocateurs can turn their notoriety into successes of small donors that can help them get an even higher profile. It also illustrates the appetite of a Republican voter base that bought into the false allegations of Mr. Trump of widespread election fraud and is eager to reward those who worked to undermine the outcome of a free and fair election.
Most of the dozens of companies that undertook to ward off Republicans who supported the reversal of the election kept their promise and withheld donations from political action committees in the past quarter. But for the loudest voices on Capitol Hill, it did not matter, as an energetic base of pro-Trump donors pulled to their side and made up for more than the shortfall.
“We’re really seeing the appearance of small donors in the Republican Party,” said Alex Conant, a Republican strategist. ‘In the past, Democrats were the ones who benefited most from small-dollar donations. We see the Republicans catching up fast. ”
Lawmakers have long benefited greatly from divisive news coverage, especially around prominent events that play out the emotions of an angry or terrified electorate. But the new documentation illustrates a growing gap between those raising money through a bombastic profile – often reinforced by significant fundraising spending – and those who have focused their attention on serious policy work.
Since challenging freshmen like Mrs. Greene, Mrs. Boebert and mr. Cawthorn scored high dollars, leaving other more conventional members of their class in competitive districts – even those praised for their fundraising – significantly behind.
Ashley Hinson of Iowa and Young Kim of California, who both faced election challenges and worked on dual bills, each raised less than $ 600,000.
Me Greene, me. Boebert and mr. Cawthorn raised more money than the top Republicans in the most powerful committees in Congress, such as credits, budget, education and labor, foreign affairs, and homeland security.
In many cases, Republican lawmakers who sparked the flames of violence on Jan. 6 have since benefited by throwing themselves out as victims of a political setback designed by the Washington administration and appealing to their supporters. .
‘Pennsylvania did not follow their own election law, but the agency did not want to hear it. But that’s not who I work for, ”Hawley wrote in a fundraising message in January. “I objected because I wanted to make sure your voice was heard. Now Biden and his awake mob are coming after me. I need your help. “
Ms Greene made a successful attempt to ban her from committees, led by angry Democrats who were upset over her previous conversation in support of the execution of Speaker Nancy Pelosi and urged her followers to put ‘Stop the Steal’ on 6 January . and every day in the days before and after the unusual vote raised $ 150,000 every day, she surpassed them every time.
“The DC swamp and the fake news media are attacking me because I’m not one of them,” read one of these requests. “I’m one of you. And they hate me for it. ”
But the polarizing nature of mr. Trump also helped some Republicans who put him at risk for his behavior around the events of January 6th.
Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the Republican no. 3 who voted for mr. Accusing Trump took in $ 1.5 million, and representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, who started an organization to lead the Republican Party away from loyalty to Mr. Trump, raised more than $ 1.1 million.
“Clearly, there is a strong market for Trumpism in the Republican base,” Curbelo said. “There is also a strong market for telling the truth and supporting the Constitution.”
Mr. Conant questions how much of the fundraising for some candidates is directly related to the Capitol assault, which he says has “moved” the conservative news media in general.
Instead, he said Republican voters are “very nervous” about the direction of the country under Democratic control and are eager to support Republicans who see it as a liberal agenda.
“It pays to be a high profile,” he said. Conant said. ‘This is even more evidence that there is not much grassland support for the Milky Way in the middle of the road. That does not mean you should be pro-Trump. It just means you have to take strong positions and then connect with those supporters. ”
But as the Republican Civil War paid campaign dividends for fighters on both sides, individual Democrats involved in the prosecution of Mr. Trump for the riot in his indictment, not a similar windfall.
With her $ 3.2 million raised this quarter, Ms. Greene raised more money than the combined total raised by all nine indictment managers – although they received huge applause in liberal circles for their case against the former president. According to the data, three of the drivers have raised less than $ 100,000 each over the past three months.
As money pours into campaigns, the assault on January 6 also led to a lot of spending on security measures.
The Federal Electoral Commission has expanded the guidelines to allow lawmakers to make contributions to install residential security systems at their homes, and the highest Capitol Hill security has told lawmakers to upgrade their home security systems to include panic buttons and key buttons.
Campaign documents show that nearly a dozen lawmakers have paid $ 20,000 or more to security companies over the past three months, including Sen. Patrick J. Toomey, a Republican from Pennsylvania who voted to convict Trump; Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York Democrat, who gave a disturbing report of the riot; and representative Eric Swalwell, a Democrat from California and one of the accusation managers against Mr. Trump.
Mr. Cruz and Mr. Hawley was also one of the biggest spenders on safety.
Lauren Hirsch and Jeanna Smialek contribution made.