Second-quarter fundraising reports for all federal candidates were due on July 15. Post-primary reports for New Jersey and Virginia also posted earlier this month. We’ll spend most of this newsletter digging into those. Plus, we have a very important 10th Anniversary National Convening update.

But first: Former Vice President Kamala Harris announced moments ago that she is not running for California governor. We’ll have more to say on that in the days ahead. Read her statement:

🚨 Statement on the California governor’s race and the fight ahead. [X]

10th Anniversary Update

ICYMI earlier this month: Registration for the 2025 EWA Convening this October in Washington, DC, is officially open:

Electing Women Alliance 10th Anniversary Convening
Oct. 22-23, 2025
(With option to stay Oct. 24-25 for canvassing in Virginia)
Washington, DC
Registration fee: $500
Click here to register

As is our custom, we kick off with an opening reception on Wednesday, followed by a full day of workshops and panels on Thursday. This year, we are also organizing canvassing opportunities for Abigail Spanberger’s gubernatorial campaign on Friday and Saturday morning in nearby Northern Virginia. This is optional but we encourage you to join us.

Thursday’s convening programming will take place at the Dupont Circle Hotel, where we’ve also reserved a room block.

The Dupont Circle Hotel

1500 New Hampshire Ave NW
Washington, DC 20036
Room block rate: $299
Booking code: 2510CDHAET
Click here to book

The location of the Wednesday reception is TBD. Please bookmark the convening page on our website and check back for schedule updates.

US Senate: Men Rise to the Top—Again

Again this cycle we’re seeing a pattern of male Democratic Senate candidates vastly outraising women—and just this week Gov. Roy Cooper raised $3.4 million in the first 24 hours after announcing his bid for the open US Senate seat in North Carolina.

The good news? With women as frontrunners in Michigan and Minnesota, it’s less likely to matter in those specific races. In the only non-incumbent race where a man is outraising the women—Illinois—Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker (who is estimated to be worth $3.7 billion) has not significantly contributed yet. He’s expected to support Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, who he has already endorsed.

All numbers represent both Q2 and cycle totals unless otherwise noted, as for most candidates the Q2 report was the first they filed for the cycle.

Georgia (Incumbent, Toss Up)
At $35 million in receipts for the cycle ($10 million in Q2), Sen. Jon Ossoff is the most prolific US Senate fundraiser, which makes sense as he is the only vulnerable incumbent Democrat running for re-election. What’s a little surprising: He’s raised nearly 6x more than Sen. Susan Collins ($6.2 million for the cycle), the most vulnerable incumbent Republican.

Illinois (Open, Safe D)
US Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi is the second most prolific fundraiser this cycle, at $12 million in receipts. That’s four times more than Lt. Gov. Stratton ($1.1 million) and Rep. Kelly ($2.5 million) combined. Note that most of Rep. Krishnamoorthi’s ($10 million) and Rep. Kelly’s ($2.2 million) reflects transfers from their House accounts.

Michigan (Open, Toss Up)
US Rep. Haley Stevens ($2.8 million) and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow ($2.1 million) are the frontrunners in fundraising, though Wayne County health department director Abdul El-Sayed has raised a respectable $1.8 million. Note that $1.5 million of Rep. Stevens’ raise reflects transfers from her House account.

Minnesota (Open, Lean D)
US Rep. Angie Craig reported $2.5 million raised versus $1.4 million for Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan. Nearly half of Lt. Gov. Flanagan’s fundraising came in Q1, while Rep. Craig’s numbers are for Q2 alone. Rep. Craig has transferred $650,000 from her House account.

New Hampshire (Open, Lean D)
US Rep. Chris Pappas has raised $2.5 million for the cycle, with $1.8 million of that coming in Q2. He has transferred less than $10,000 from his House account this cycle.

Other News

Angie Craig’s Big Tent [Puck]

Black Women for Peggy unites to support Lt. Gov Flanagan’s run for Senate [WCCO]

Underdogs and endorsements: Inside the emerging 2026 Illinois Senate race [Axios]

Voting rights group endorses Stevens in Michigan’s U.S. Senate race [MI Advance]

MI has been a pipeline for women in power. Will that continue in 2026? [The 19th]

Huizenga skips Michigan Senate race [Axios]

Who will challenge Susan Collins in 2026? [Maine Public Media]

US House: Women Flip the Script

The difference in women’s House fundraising versus the Senate is dramatic, with women actually outraising men in the lower chamber. This builds on a trend toward parity we saw in 2024, when Democratic women raised $2.47 million on average per quarter versus men’s $2.54 million.

Here’s what we’re seeing so far this year:

Incumbent Fundraising

In toss up races, incumbent women are competitive, raising $646,000 in Q2 versus $691,000 for the incumbent men.
In Q1, incumbent women were actually ahead, raising $436,000 versus $388,000 for the incumbent men.
Digging into where the money came from, men are getting more in donations from PACs ($170,000 on average versus $204,000).

A reminder that the incumbents we’re watching in toss up races (based on ratings in Cook Political Report) are: Laura Gillen (NY-4), Marcy Kaptur (OH-9), Emilia Sykes (OH-13), Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez (WA-3). Four other women are rated as Lean Democratic: Kristen McDonald Rivet (MI-9), Nellie Pou (NJ-9), Susie Lee (NV-3), and Janelle Bynum (OR-5).

Non-incumbent Fundraising

In toss up races for Republican-held seats, women vastly outraised their male primary challengers in Q2, $340,000 to $231,000.
Women are also bringing in slightly more from PACs, outraising men $16,000 to $13,000 on average in Q2.

The Republican-held seats rates toss-up are: AZ-1, AZ-6, CO-8, IA-1, MI-7, NE-2, PA-7, PA-10 and WI-3. Women are competitive in all of these races. You can read the full list and more analysis of these races in our June 2025 Insider.

🚨 Special Election Alert: Results are in for the special election primary in AZ-7, which has been vacant since incumbent Democrat Raúl Grijalva died in March. His daughter, former Pima County Supervisor Adelita Grijalva, will likely be heading to Congress after the special general election on Sept. 23, as the seat is rated D+13.

🔖 2026 House Open Seat Tracker [Cook Political Report]

Other News

GOP House Members Maintain Fundraising Edge Over Dems in Q2 [Cook]

2026 Minnesota House Analysis: Will 2nd District Come Back in Play? [Cook]

Republicans Have More Plausible Gerrymandering Targets than Democrats [Sabato]

What are the risks if TX Republicans redraw House districts at Trump’s urging? [PBS]

6 ways Trump’s tax bill could shape the battle for Congress [Washington Post]

State & Local: Statewide Deep Dive

While each state has different reporting requirements, both New Jersey and Virginia had periodic reports due in June that give a snapshot of where the candidates stand heading into the general election.

New Jersey Governor
June 30 post-primary reports show US Rep. Mikie Sherrill was the top fundraiser, bringing in $9.27 million, though she reported slightly more in expenditures ($9.28 million), meaning she will be basically starting from scratch in what we expect will be a closer-than-expected general election race against Republican Jack Ciattarelli.

The other primary candidates raised, in order:

Josh Gottheimer, $9.19 million
Steven Fulop, $9.06 million
Stephen Sweeney, $8.48 million
Ras Baraka, $7.14 million
Sean Spiller, $322,000

Virginia Governor
Candidates filed reports on July 15 covering the immediate pre- and post-primary period. They show former Rep. Abigail Spanberger has raised a staggering $26.7 million for the cycle—more than double the $11.6 million raised by her Republican opponent, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears. The cash-on-hand figures are even more eye-popping, with Abigail sitting on $15.4 million versus her opponents’ $4.8 million. Note: Virginia has no donation limits for state candidates.

Virginia Lt. Gov.
Primary winner Ghazala Hashmi—the only woman in the race—ended up the top fundraiser after a slow start, with $742,000 raised in the two months before the primary. She more than doubled that in the last three weeks of June, bringing in $1.7 million to start the general election with $3.5 million raised and $1.3 million cash-on-hand. She’ll now face businessman John Reid, who’s raised a paltry $440,000 for the cycle and starts the general election with $163,000 cash-on-hand.

Virginia Attorney General
In the two months before the primary, Shannon Taylor actually slightly outraised eventual nominee Jay Jones, $1.1 million to 934,000. It wasn’t enough to make up for the massive Q1 gap though, when he outraised her $931,000 to $534,000.