Scoop: Schumer-linked PAC edges GOP counterpart with $44 million haul

By the numbers: Senate Majority PAC brought in $44.3 million in the second quarter, bumping its total raised this cycle to $167.2 million — more than it has raised at this point in any pervious election year.

• The money is needed: Democrats face incredibly tough Senate races in places like Ohio, Montana and Nevada that are key to maintaining their one-seat majority.
• The group reported $124 million in cash-on-hand — another record for this point in the cycle — and has placed more than $239 million in ad reservations in battleground states ahead of Nov. 5.

Yes, but: Senate Majority PAC's Republican counterpart — the Mitch-McConnell-linked Senate Leadership Fund — raised $41 million in the second quarter as the GOP works to close a long-standing fundraising gap with Democrats.

• That's about double what SLF raised in the same period during the 2022 midterm cycle.

What they're saying: Senate Majority PAC President JB Poersch said in a statement the fundraising is a "clear demonstration of the energy propelling Democrats to hold the Senate come November."

• "This historic fundraising has already been put to use, showing voters just how shady, untrustworthy, and extreme these out-of-touch, carpetbagging Republican candidates are," Poersch said.

Zoom out: The second-quarter numbers don't fully reflect any fundraising bump Senate Democrats might get out of President Biden's disastrous June 27 debate performance.

• As Axios has reported, major Democratic donors are now planning to go bigger on contributions to Senate and House candidates in a bid to build a Capitol Hill firewall around a second Trump term.