Johnson announces $27.5M third-quarter fundraising in record for Speaker

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) announced a $27.5 million fundraising haul for the third quarter of the year, a sum that is welcome news for Republicans hoping to keep control of the House as they enter the final stretch of the campaign.

The money Johnson raised from July through September includes $19.4 million to his campaign committees and $8.1 million for individual Republican members and candidates.

“In less than one year as Speaker, I'm thankful that we have been able to build a team and set new fundraising records that will ensure House Republicans can keep and grow our majority," Johnson said in a statement alongside the fundraising announcement. "Now with less than one month until the most important election of our lifetimes, another strong quarter shows voters are motivated down the stretch and ready to elect Republicans up and down the ballot to fix our economy, secure the border, and restore peace through strength."

Johnson’s political team said the sum amounts to the “highest amount raised by a Republican Speaker of the House in the third quarter of a presidential election year.” It also said he set monthly and quarterly online fundraising records.

The last presidential election year with a Republican Speaker was 2016. Then-Speaker Paul Ryan (D-Wis.) raised $15.4 million in the third quarter that year. 

Johnson’s fundraising haul does not break any all-time quarterly record for a Republican leader. Then-Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), for instance, announced raising $31.5 million in the first quarter of 2022.

Still, the sizeable haul sends a signal Jonson is a major player in the fundraising space. It could also assuage concerns that accompanied his rise to the Speakership about whether Johnson — who was not a major GOP fundraiser or campaigner before skyrocketing to the position — had the capacity to raise the funds necessary to help House Republicans be competitive, as is expected of modern Speakers.

Since becoming Speaker nearly a year ago, Johnson has transferred $26 million to the National Republican Congressional Committee, his political team said.

The fundraising totals come as the Speaker is on a 24-state campaign swing in the month of October, campaigning for Republican House members and candidates across the country. In total, he has traveled to more than 210 cities and 40 states.