CO, MA, MI, WI Attorneys General exceed fundraising expectations to keep seats blue in 2022

Washington, D.C.—The Democratic Attorneys General Association (DAGA) raised $5.7 million across all entities in the first half of 2021, and individual Democratic attorneys general broke fundraising records, including in three of the seats picked up in 2018 (CO, MI, WI.)

“DAGA, Democratic AGs, and candidates continue to do the hard work needed in preparation for the upcoming elections. Many of our AGs set fundraising records, and our candidates bested Republican opponents,” said Sean Rankin, Executive Director of DAGA.  

“It was Democratic AGs that protected the results of a free and fair 2020 election. Now as it is our turn on the ballot in the upcoming midterm, we thank our existing donors who are contributing again to DAGA and welcome new donors joining with us and our AGs to guarantee democracy will remain in the hands of the people’s lawyers, our Democratic AGs, who uphold the rule of law and fight for justice every day.”  

Incumbent Democratic Attorneys General Maura Healey of Massachusetts, Phil Weiser of Colorado, Dana Nessel of Michigan, and Josh Kaul of Wisconsin have exceeded fundraising expectations for their state AG races leading up to the 2022 elections; three of the attorneys general (CO, MI, WI) flipped their seats blue in the 2018 election. 

Massachusetts Attorney General and DAGA Co-Chair Maura Healey raised over $3 million and reported $3.12 million cash-on-hand, crushing all of her previous mid-year fundraising totals by over $2 million. 

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser announced that his campaign raised more than $528,000 for the second quarter of 2021 with $1.5 million cash on hand. AG Weiser set a fundraising record with $531,000 in the first quarter, and effectively matched it in the second.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel broke all fundraising records set by attorney general candidates in the state, raising over $1.1 million in the first half of 2021.   Driven by donations from 5,462 individual contributors, AG Nessel’s campaign boasts over $1 million cash-on-hand.

Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul raised nearly $411,000 and has more than $537,000 cash-on-hand, according to campaign reporting records, $287,000 more than his closest challenger. AG Kaul announced his reelection campaign earlier this month and has raised more than any previous Wisconsin AG candidate at this point in the race.   

Democratic attorney general candidates are also showing strong fundraising numbers. In Georgia, State Senator Jen Jordan’s campaign raised $675,000 since she announced her candidacy in April 2021, and Charlie Bailey has raised $573,000 since he entered the race in January. Bailey, the previous Democratic nominee for attorney general, narrowly lost to Carr in the 2018 election. Democratic donors want this seat and so far this year they have invested more than $1.25 million to take it.

“We are building momentum to keep Colorado, Michigan, and Wisconsin blue next year,” said Amanda Trump, Deputy Political Director for DAGA.  “The record-breaking fundraising totals clearly show that Democratic attorneys general will have the resources to be competitive in every election next year. Democratic AGs take on the toughest issues facing our country, and voters will reward them in the midterm,” added Trump. “DAGA will do everything we can to support the leadership shown by our AGs starting with our incumbents’ re-elections and adding to the number of Democratic state AGs.”