2022 Money race: Biden headlines first in-person fundraiser for Democratic Party

It’s a first for President Biden.

The president on Monday night will attend a small, top-dollar, fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee (DNC), his first in-person fundraising event for his party since taking over in the White House 14 months ago amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

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The event, in the nation's capital, comes as the president appears to be stepping up his fundraising efforts for the DNC ahead of November’s midterm elections, when the Democrats will be defending their razor-thin majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate.

While the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) been holding in person fundraisers for months, the DNC’s finance events have been held virtually due to pandemic restrictions. But with the rates of new COVID cases quickly declining, there’s been a desire by major Democratic donors to enjoy some in-person face time with the president.

With less than eight months to go until the midterms, the RNC enjoys a slight fundraising advantage.

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As Fox News first reported in January, the RNC hauled in an off-election year record $158.6 million in 2021, slightly edging the DNC. And the RNC out raised its Democratic counterpart in January fundraising, $13 million to $10.2 million.

"Despite Democrats’ controlling the White House, Senate, and House, the Republican National Committee continues to out raise and run laps around the Biden-controlled DNC, RNC spokeswoman Emma Vaughn touted in a statement to Fox News. 

"The Republican Party will continue to hold Democrats accountable for their rising prices, open border, and soft on crime agenda. Our winning message and our unmatched ground game infrastructure will propel Republicans to victory in 2022," Vaughn predicted.

But the DNC retains a cash-on-hand advantage, with over $11 million more in its coffers than the RNC as of the end January.

National party fundraising is a key barometer of donor and voter enthusiasm ahead of the midterms, and the money raised can be used – among other things – for party staffing in key battlegrounds, grassroots and other get-out-the-vote efforts, campaign ads, and can be transferred the party House and Senate reelection committees. 

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The GOP needs a net gain of just one seat to recapture the majority in the 100-member Senate they lost when they were swept in the Jan. 2021 twin runoff elections in Georgia. And Republicans need a net gain of five seats in the 435-member House of Representatives to win back the majority the Democrats captured in the 2018 midterms.

The Democrats are facing a difficult political climate as well as historical headwinds this year, as the party that wins the White House traditionally suffers setbacks in the ensuing midterms. 

But Biden, addressing the DNC’s winter meeting last Thursday, argued that "coming out of the State of the Union, we are in the strongest position we’ve been in months."

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And the president emphasized that Democrats "have a record – a record to be proud of; an agenda that addresses the biggest concerns here in America, in people’s lives; the message that resonates."

But the president’s approval rating, another key barometer ahead other, remains underwater even with a slight bump in recent weeks. And Republicans have a slight edge over the Democrats in the generic ballot, another key polling question used to gauge support for congressional races.