Washington, DC — As election day nears, more and more voters — and donors alike — are recognizing the huge role that Attorneys General play in defending abortion access. POLITICO’s Alice Ollstein reports, “Democrats running for state attorneys general are seeing a surge in donations and a polling upswing in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade — making several races formerly seen as longshots newly competitive.”

“The Democratic Attorneys General Association — the party’s only national campaign arm to explicitly require its candidates to support abortion rights — usually trails its GOP counterpart in fundraising. But in the second quarter of this year, when Roe fell, it outraised the Republican group, $6.47 million to $6.3 million. And while Republicans’ fundraising ticked up 7 percent from the previous quarter this year, Democrats’ shot up 70 percent. And Ford says that included sizable increases in both small-dollar and major donations.”

“‘We saw, even after the leaked opinion in May, an increase in interest and energy around attorneys general who will prioritize protecting reproductive freedom,’” said Nevada AG and DAGA Co-Chair Aaron Ford.

From Michigan down to Texas, voters are stepping up to show their support for Democratic AG candidates:

• “Chris Mann, a former police officer running for attorney general in Kansas, raised just over $300,000 between Jan. 1 and late July, according to state records. But in the two days after the state’s abortion referendum vote, the campaign pulled in more than $30,000 as it worked to highlight the anti-abortion record of Republican nominee Kris Kobach… ‘We don’t typically ask politicians for medical advice and we don’t need them in our exam rooms. The government shouldn’t be making health care decisions. The people of Kansas have a history of saying that and we’ll continue to say that.’”
• “Rochelle Garza, the Democrat challenging Attorney General Ken Paxton in Texas, brought in more than $300,000 in the first week after Roe fell, helping her campaign outraise her opponent during the last reporting period — $520,000 to Paxton’s $340,000. A Dallas Morning News poll released last week found Garza ‘neck and neck’ with Paxton, and slightly ahead with independent voters.”
• “In Georgia, challenger Jen Jordan beat her GOP counterpart Chris Carr in fundraising for the quarter that included the Roe decision that cleared the way for the state’s six-week abortion ban to take effect. Recent polls show Jordan just four points behind, fueling Democratic optimism.”
• “A POLITICO analysis of ActBlue credit card processing fees disclosed in IRS data shows that Jordan, Arizona’s Democratic hopeful Kris Mayes, and Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul in Wisconsin all doubled online fundraising hauls from prior months in the month after the Supreme Court released the Dobbs decision.”
• “And in Michigan, Attorney General Dana Nessel — a Democrat who has talked about her own abortion and made the issue a centerpiece of her campaign — is significantly outraising her Republican challenger Matt DePerno, and now has roughly 20 times as much cash on hand. In the week following the Supreme Court’s decision, her campaign reported $150,000 in donations, the majority from first-time women donors.”

“‘We are touting the fact that we are the ones able to coalesce around this issue and work together to get things done on this front,’ Ford said.”

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