FIRST ON FOX: House Speaker Kevin McCarthy doled out millions of dollars to boost incumbent GOP members in tough races through his Protect the House 2024 joint fundraising committee ahead of the next election cycle.
McCarthy handed out over $8 million to 32 incumbent GOP House members during an event last Thursday for his joint fundraising committee at the Capitol Hill Club in Washington, D.C.
McCarthy, R-Calif., gave $4 million to incumbents via his Protect the House 2024 joint fundraising committee while $4.7 million came from member-to-member donations.
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Lawmakers from states across the union flocked to the Thursday breakfast where energies were high and McCarthy himself handed out checks to members, including Reps. John James and Derrick Van Orden of Michigan.
"Republicans won the House majority," McCarthy told Fox News Digital in an interview. "For the last two cycles, we’ve been able to win."
"We’ve got amazing members, and they’re sitting in seats that are very competitive, from New York to California, Oregon to Arizona," the speaker continued. "And so what we’re doing collectively, together, are helping those new freshmen, those who are in challenging seats, as well."
"We were able to raise more than $8 million this quarter just for those 30 members in the challenging seats, because we want to be on offense. There are more seats we can win," McCarthy added.
The speaker highlighted the "high inflation, high energy costs, going after parents," and the fentanyl that is flowing across "the unsecured border" under the Biden administration and said Republicans are "moving those policies and changing all that on the floor."
"And we’re going to have stronger candidates even in the next cycle," McCarthy added.
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The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) Chair Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., told Fox News Digital that he’s "on offense" in his role heading up the House GOP campaign arm.
"We’re going to grow this majority and the only way we’re going to do that is under Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s leadership," Hudson said. "And under this speaker, we are united and today is a great example of Speaker McCarthy leading our conference."
Hudson highlighted the "over $8.5 million" given directly to incumbents on Thursday, calling it a "great show of support," and the reason why House Republicans will "be gaining seats."
Freshman Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Ore., said the support from McCarthy and other candidates "motivates us as brand new freshmen congressmen and women to go back to our districts and continue to fight the good fight that we’ve done for the last really two years."
"Let me tell you what this does for Oregon: I am the first Republican woman ever elected to Oregon," Chavez-DeRemer said. "It brings a balanced voice, it lets my constituents know that I’m fighting for them."
"It lets them know that we have a powerhouse of the GOP willing to stand up for us and fight for us across the country," she added.
Chavez-DeRemer thanked McCarthy for his work "expanding the tent" of the GOP and said the Republican conference "is working well together."
Republican Rep. Juan Ciscomani of Arizona called his fellow GOP freshmen a "great class" and said the GOP leadership is supporting the new Republicans on the campaign trail, such as with the Young Guns program, and bringing them "all together."
"I think leadership was on to something here from the very beginning, on building this kind of relationship between members," Ciscomani said. "Freshmen for sure, but every time we would come, the senior members would also be very welcoming and very encouraging to us, and they’ve been like that in the first three months in office."
"They’ve been supportive, helpful with all the questions that we may have, I mean, just over and over again showing up for us," Ciscomani continued. "And today is another great example of that as they keep coming and saying, ‘Hey, we’re all a family, we’re going to stick together.’"
"And we’re seeing the proof of that," the Arizona freshman added.
McCarthy also shot $7 million over to the NRCC.
Protect the House 2024 has been hauling in major cash as the GOP prepares for the next election cycle.
The joint fundraising committee is projected to bring in $35 million in the first fundraising quarter alone. Some nominal donations from before the speaker’s race concluded were also included in the final projections.
McCarthy has also been bringing in over $400,000 a day on average since taking the gavel on Jan. 7 and raised $12.3 million at his first major fundraiser in February.
Grassroots donations are also coming in hot, with $3 million from nearly 150,000 online small-dollar donations and the average donation just shy of $20.
The small-dollar donations come from all 50 states, as well, with the top states being California, Texas and Florida.
McCarthy has also been hitting the road while the House is out of session, traveling for 37 days across eight states to fundraise and help launch candidates’ campaigns.
The speaker will continue his journeys across America and is slated to travel to New Mexico post-Easter to launch former Rep. Yvette Herrell’s campaign for the Land of Enchantment’s 2nd Congressional District.
McCarthy himself has hauled in $35 million in fundraising since becoming speaker.
