Women Outraise Men in Competitive 2026 Races, Analysis Finds
Women are outraising men in the most competitive midterm contests more often than not.
That’s according to an updated analysis from the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. Among the 18 mixed-gender races on Cook Political Report‘s most competitive list, a woman candidate led the money race in the majority of them.
“We’re seeing that women often lead the money race in both U.S. House and U.S. Senate contests, with women competing in some of the most important races this cycle,” said Kira Sanbonmatsu, a senior scholar at CAWP and the lead author of Women, Money, & Politics Watch 2026.
Still, there remains persistent challenges for women candidates, even in the most competitive races. When it comes to self-funding, for instance, men are far more likely to bankroll their own campaigns than women, according to CAWP. Eight of the top 10 self-financers in competitive races are men, and the pattern holds across most chamber party and candidate-type breakdowns.
“The self-funding strategy is not available to most Americans, and it’s a much less common strategy for women candidates,” Sanbonmatsu said.
On the other hand, women candidates are more likely to rely on contributions from grassroots and small-dollar donors. Across both parties, women raised a higher average share of their money from contributions of $200 or less, according to CAWP’s analysis. Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.) led all incumbent women on that front, drawing about 68 percent of her funds from small contributions.
Race and ethnicity also play a role in shaping fundraising outcomes. According to CAWP’s analysis, no Black woman candidate led the money race in any of the subgroups analyzed, and Black women donors accounted for only 1 percent of the total money contributed to congressional candidates. The same is true for Latina donors, CAWP found.
Among the top women fundraisers by chamber and party were Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Rep. Young Kim (R-Calif.) Senate candidate and former Rep. Mary Peltola (D-Alaska) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).
Party breakdowns cut in different directions. Democratic men outraise Democratic women on average in Senate and open-seat House races, while Democratic women lead in other House contests. Overall, 45 percent of the total money contributed to Democratic women running for Congress came from women donors.
Republican women, meanwhile, out-raise Republican men on average in both competitive House and Senate races though they run in far smaller numbers overall. Still, women donors gave only 31 percent of the total money contributed to Republican women congressional candidates, according to CAWP.
