Stefanik Pays NRCC $1 Million After Getting Elected
Newly elected National Republican Conference Committee (NRCC) Chair Elise Stefanik (R-NY) recently transferred $1 million to the group that elected her after replacing Liz Cheney in the top House leadership spot last week.
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) had donated $2 million total to the House Republican Committee for the last cycle during her stint in leadership, a time period that typically encompasses two years. It is now expected that Rep. Stefanik wants to and will likely surpass Cheney’s millions.
According to a press release from Rep. Stefanik’s office, the Congresswoman raised $1,112, 881 in the first three months of 2021 and had $2.5 million in her re-election committee in mid-April. Stefanik has been consistently one of the top rank-and-file House fundraisers since entering Congress in 2015 as a moderate Republican. Stefanik was the youngest woman ever elected to Congress when she first won her district that had twice elected Democratic President Barack Obama and had been represented by Democrats in Congress since 1993.
Stefanik emerged as an effective Trump defender during the first impeachment proceedings and continued to back Trump on key battles. She was one of 146 Republican lawmakers who formally objected to the Electoral College results and defended Trump’s false rhetoric involving election tampering. This strategy not only worked in a few other pivotal swing districts to keep Democrats from securing a larger House majority in 2020, but it is reflective of Trump’s ongoing power within the GOP.
In her fourth term, Congresswoman Stefanik launched a high-profile public defense of Donald Trump, which turned her into a top fundraiser for her party, a necessary job requirement for leadership positions. In 2018, Stefanik had only raised $2.8 million in the 2018 cycle, an average take for a regular House member.
During the 2020 cycle, utilizing her newly implemented Trump-defense tactics, her fundraising coffer totaled $13.3 million. Rep. Stefanik raised 90 percent of those millions after October 2019, which corresponds with House Democrats launching their first impeachment inquiry.
In these last few months of fundraising in 2021, Stefanik brought in more than half of her fundraising cash from small donors, and donors living outside of New York accounted for two-thirds of Stefanik’s haul from large individual donors.
She has proven again this year, by following her same strategy from last year that brought in such windfalls, that shilling for Trump works to fire up nationalist anger. Rage can clearly continue to bring in large conservative donations from big money all over the US, and a massive influx of small cash donations from locals. Bottom line: the Trump name works in the game of fundraising from the deepest and most racist pockets…still.
Rep. Stefanik’s recent Facebook ads have used calls to investigate liberal leaders, like climate envoy John Kerry, and demand censure for other Democratic powerhouses like Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA). Those using the Trump name have also profited substantially over the last several years by using the WinRed digital platform that the GOP created during the last fundraising cycle.
After Stefanik was elected to her new House GOP leadership role by a secret ballot last week, she told reporters (see video above) that, unlike Cheney, she continues to see Donald Trump as a leader in the Republican Party. “Voters determine the leader of the Republican Party, and President Trump is the leader that they look to,” Stefanik told reporters.
She added, “He is an important voice in the Republican Party, and we look forward to working with him.” Stefanik also made a point to say, "I also want to thank President Trump for his support. He's a critical part of our Republican team."
While it is essential to watch the moves of Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy in dissecting the level of Republican allegiance still pledged to Trump, it is probably more important to watch the money and the campaign strategies that are bringing in the fundraising hauls.
Rep. Stefanik represents a roadmap to Trump’s extended network that will be essential in maintaining any control in Congress after the next midterm. If Democrats are too distracted on the big prize of the White House and continue to focus all of their political spending in one area, it will again be open season for these Trump-anomaly seats.
The Democratic Party focused nearly everything on Biden’s election in 2020, thus overlooking some key House races with critical conservative grassroots support and endless national funding. The presidential elections, which were narrowly won by Democrats in certain Districts, but lost to Republicans at the House level, are the key to deciphering the overall Trump campaign infrastructure. Much like the Star Wars franchise, we might have to blow up this Death Star for a second time, and those reconnaissance structure plans — that many Bothans died to bring us — are pivotal.
Amee Vanderpool writes the SHERO Newsletter and is an attorney, published author, contributor to newspapers and magazines, and analyst for BBC radio. She can be reached at avanderpool@gmail.com or follow her on Twitter @girlsreallyrule.
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So I guess that everything is brought and sold with them, and Dems too. She has no
Idea they are going to
Use her like a rag doll and walk away and leaver hanging. Everyone has ambitions , but not everybody is willing to
Sell themselves, Elaine is and Liz isn’t . ( I actually defended Liz Cheney at a friends house and I had to keep saying I share nothing of value with Liz Cheney , I can’t believe I am
Defending her) hahaha she had a conscience all of a sudden I guess. Elaine is going to make one error and get stepped on , and I am
Looking forward to that as a life lesson For her.