Scoop: NRSC raised $8.3 million in January

Republicans' Senate campaign arm raised $8.3 million in January, the bulk of it after two Senate runoff contests early in the month, according to new fundraising numbers obtained by Axios.

Why it matters: Donor backlash against legislators, like National Republican Senatorial Committee chair Sen. Rick Scott, who voted to block certification of President Biden's victory last month, fueled concerns that Scott might be a fundraising albatross. These numbers suggest those fears were unfounded — at least for now.

Behind the scenes: Scott walked the GOP conference through the new numbers during their closed-door lunch on Tuesday.

• Scott emphasized that the numbers were particularly strong online.
• One of Scott's biggest focuses is ramping up online fundraising, both at the committee and in GOP campaigns, to compete with Democrats' ability to raise huge sums through small-dollar donations.

By the numbers: More than $6.8 million was raised after the Georgia special elections.

• $4.24 million was raised online. The average online donation was $32.
• More than 89,000 people donated, and 9,073 were first-time donors.
• The committee has $17.2 million cash on hand total.
• In January 2019, the NRSC raised $5.5 million and had $7.6 million cash on hand.