Cornyn steps up fundraising in battle with Thune to become Senate GOP leader

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) has raised $18.3 million this cycle to help boost Republican Senate incumbents and hopefuls, raising more than Sen. John Thune (R-SD) as both men compete to become the next Senate Republican leader.

Both senators are working to raise money as they compete for the votes of their conference after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced he would step down as leader in November, setting off a battle over fundraising and ties with high-dollar donors.

The next Senate leader will be responsible for the party’s political and legislative strategy and will take over McConnell’s super PAC, known as the Senate Leadership Fund. The next leader will also help guide the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the main campaign arm of the Senate GOP, and will recruit key candidates in the coming cycles.

Cornyn, a former Senate GOP campaign chairman and whip, has raised nearly $5.6 million for incumbents, the NRSC, and Senate Republican nominees, according to a source familiar with his fundraising. The funding is the most the senator, who hails from donor-rich Texas, has raised in a single quarter. Beyond McConnell, Cornyn has been the top Senate GOP fundraiser for 15 years and has spent years building his political operation. He formed a joint fundraising committee last cycle, the Cornyn Victory Committee, to help Republican campaigns directly.

“Other than the current leader, there is no one who has worked harder and longer and raised more money for Republican senators than Sen. John Cornyn,” said Brian Walsh, a former Cornyn staffer. “He has spent years helping candidates and that goes back to his serving two terms at the NRSC, serving as the Republican whip, and he’s never left his foot off the gas pedal.”

Thune, the No. 2 Senate Republican, has raised $13.1 million for Republicans this cycle and is the second-highest fundraiser for the NRSC behind Chairman Steve Daines (R-MT), according to a source familiar with his efforts. 

Thune, who comes from the much smaller state of South Dakota, has also ramped up his fundraising and has headlined fundraisers for candidates in the nation’s capital and around the country. The South Dakota senator has attended in-person events in Washington, D.C., and across the country, often juggling multiple each night he’s in town, according to a source with knowledge of his efforts who said Thune has participated in more than 200 events this cycle alone for candidates, incumbents, and the NRSC. 

Many senators say they are undecided about which John to support and are considering various factors over the next couple of months. Leadership races are often conducted via secret ballot, making them extremely difficult to predict. It’s also unclear if others will ultimately jump into the race. Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), a former NRSC chairman, had expressed interest earlier this year.

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While money is important in the leadership battle, it isn’t everything. Some Republicans point to Cornyn’s legislative background as a weakness, highlighting his role in pushing a bipartisan gun bill in 2022. However, Walsh said he doesn’t think that’s a critical vulnerability for the Texas Republican.

“What he did was take a tough vote and take a politically volatile issue off the table for the good of the conference,” Walsh explained. “He consistently has had one of the top ratings on Second Amendment issues in the conference. He is the primary sponsor of constitutional carry in the Senate, and so I think the people that know him best, those are his fellow senators, know his record on issues like this, so it’s not something that folks should be concerned about.”