Gender Disparities in Congressional Fundraising

The Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP), a unit of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University, has expanded its Women, Money, & Politics Watch 2024 analysis of campaign finance to include congressional races in all 50 states. The National View analyzes campaign contributions to women and men congressional candidates by state, with additional insight into women candidates’ race/ethnicity. For each state, the analysis includes the total raised from individuals, proportion of funds from self-financing, and proportion of funds raised from small contributions, displaying campaign finance data available through July 15, 2024.

As we have previously reported, the number of women running for congressional offices has declined in the 2024 election across parties and at nearly every intersection of race and gender. This phase of Women, Money, & Politics Watch 2024 provides an additional analytical lens through which to view women in congressional contests in this year’s elections. Some key findings include:

 
Proportion of Funds from Self-financed Contributions

• Men running for Congress have a higher average proportion of funds from self-financing than women.
• This gender difference in self-financing holds in almost every subgroup comparison by chamber, party, and type of candidate (incumbent/challenger/open-seat).

Proportion of Funds from Small Contributions 

• In general, women running for Congress have a slightly higher average proportion of funds from contributions of $200 or less than men.
• However, men candidates have a higher average proportion of funds from small contributions than women in the following party/chamber/seat status combinations:
  • When running as a Republican incumbent for the U.S. Senate
  • When running as a Republican challenger for the U.S. Senate
  • When running as a Democratic open-seat candidate in U.S. House races.
• Of the incumbent women seeking reelection, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14) and Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA-14) have the highest proportion of funds from small contributions (about 70%).

Total Raised from Individuals

 We analyzed the total amount raised from individuals including self-financing for all candidates by chamber, party, and incumbent/challenger/open-seat status. In this analysis, we found that: 

• In almost every subgroup of candidates – combinations of chamber, party, and seat status (incumbent, challenger, open-seat) – a man was the top fundraiser nationwide.
• A woman was the top fundraiser nationwide in just one combination of chamber, party, and seat status: Mayra Flores (TX-34), who is Latina, was the top fundraiser among Republican candidates running as challengers for the U.S. House.
• We also compared women candidates to one another by chamber and party. In this analysis, the following four candidates had the highest total raised among women within their chamber and party group:
  • Democratic women candidates
    • Senator Tammy Baldwin (WI)
    • Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14)
  • Republican women candidates
    • Senate candidate Kari Lake (AZ)
    • Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA-14)
• No Black woman or Asian American/Pacific Islander woman congressional candidate led the money race for any candidate subgroup across these two analyses.

Party and Chamber Averages

We analyzed the average total amount raised from individuals including self-financing for all candidates by chamber, party, and incumbent/challenger/open-seat status. In this analysis, we found that: 

• The average total raised for men was higher than the average raised by women in these subgroups:
  • U.S. Senate incumbent candidates in both parties
  • U.S. Senate challenger candidates in both parties
  • U.S. House open-seat candidates in both parties
  • Democratic men U.S. Senate open-seat candidates
  • Democratic men U.S. House challenger candidates
     
• The average total raised for women was higher than the average raised by men in these subgroups:
  • U.S. House incumbent candidates in both parties
  • Republican women U.S. Senate open-seat candidates
  • Republican women U.S. House challenger candidates

Competitive Congressional Races

 We conducted a separate analysis for the Cook Political Report’s most competitive congressional races. 

• In the most competitive congressional races, eight of the top ten candidates in proportion of funds raised from self-financing are men.
• In the most competitive U.S. Senate races, the average total raised by Democratic women candidates is higher than the average raised by Democratic men. 
• In the most competitive U.S. House races, the average total raised by Democratic women candidates and Democratic men candidates is similar.
• In the most competitive congressional races, the average total raised by Republican men candidates is higher than the average raised by Republican women.
• In the most competitive congressional races that are mixed-gender contests (N=18) (featuring at least one woman and one man running), a woman candidate led the money race in the majority of contests.

 
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Kira Sanbonmatsu, the senior scholar who leads CAWP’s Women, Money, and Politics project, observed that “We know that money doesn’t buy elections. At the same time, women candidates need resources to run effective campaigns. What we’re seeing is that women and men are raising money for their congressional campaigns in somewhat different ways. Men running for Congress are more likely to contribute to their own campaigns. This funding mechanism may be less accessible to women due to gender differences in income and wealth — particularly to women from historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups. There’s also a tendency for women candidates to be raising more of their funds through small contributions of $200 or less.”

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Republican Women Candidate Analysis

Our nationwide campaign finance analysis of Republican women candidates is based on a smaller number of candidates than our analysis of Democratic women candidates due to the much smaller number of Republican women running for Congress in 2024 compared with Democratic women.

While on average Republican women incumbents seeking reelection to the U.S. House are out-raising their Republican men colleagues, it is important to recognize that Republican men vastly outnumber Republican women in Congress.

There are just two Republican women seeking reelection to the U.S. Senate; the average amount they have raised is lower than the average amount for the Republican men seeking reelection to the U.S. Senate.

Gender differences are evident among Republican congressional candidates nationwide in self-financing with men’s proportion of funds from self-financing slightly exceeding women’s. This pattern is evident in our analysis of the Cook Political Report’s most competitive U.S. Senate races. However, in the most competitive races we find that Republican women running for the U.S. House report a higher average proportion of funds from self-financing than Republican men. There are far fewer Republican women than Republican men running in these competitive contests.

Our nationwide analysis of Republican congressional candidates also reveals that Republican women are more likely than Republican men to raise their funds through small contributions of $200 or less.

Democratic Women Candidate Analysis

Our nationwide campaign finance analysis of Democratic women candidates is based on a larger number of candidates than Republican women candidates due to the much smaller number of Republican women running for Congress in 2024 compared with Democratic women.

While women compose a much higher proportion of 2024 Democratic than Republican congressional candidates, gender differences persist in how Democratic candidates are financing their campaigns.

Democratic men U.S. Senate candidates on average are raising more than Democratic women. They also raise more on average as open-seat and challenger candidates in U.S. House races. However, in U.S. House races with incumbent candidates, Democratic women are raising more on average than Democratic men.

Gender differences are evident among Democratic congressional candidates nationwide in self-financing with men’s proportion of funds from self-financing exceeding women’s. This gender difference is larger on average for Democratic than Republican candidates.

The gender difference in self-financing is also apparent in our analysis of the Cook Political Report’s most competitive congressional races, with Democratic men’s average of funds raised from self-financing higher than the average for Democratic women.

Our nationwide analysis of congressional candidates reveals that Democratic women are usually more likely than Democratic men to raise their funds through small contributions of $200 or less.

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Additionally, The State View: A Deep Dive into 10 States page has been updated with new data for state elections.

Women, Money, & Politics Watch 2024 uses interactive data visualizations powered by Graphicacy that are downloadable and shareable; follow the story as it develops on the project landing page and learn about donor gaps in election 2024 from our prior analysis.

 This project is part of the CAWP Women, Money, and Politics series, undertaken in collaboration with OpenSecrets; previous reports in the series can be found here. This research is made possible thanks to the generosity and commitment of Pivotal, a Melinda French Gates company. Find all CAWP data about women in election 2024 at Election Watch.