Attacks on Hawley backfire as money rolls in for Republicans

Criticism of Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley over his push for election integrity has helped make him a fundraising rock star for Republicans.

Hawley has faced intense criticism from Democrats for suggesting that certain states’ electoral results may have been tainted by voter fraud. He was among a handful of senators who voiced opposition to certifying select states’ electors on January 6. That was the day 300 people broke into the Capitol leaving one protester being killed by police. A capitol police offer also later died with media reports reporting it was from injuries suffered from rioters until the autopsy revealed otherwise.

Media outlets and Democrat leaders attempted to tie Hawley to those rioters, but while that project had been unsuccessful — for Democrats — it has been heavily productive for Hawley, who drew in millions in the first quarter of 2020.

READ: Hawley explains facts surrounding his objection to electors

“Sen. Josh Hawley’s effort to block certification of the 2020 election has been a fundraising boon — not just for him but his party,” according to Axios. “Corporate donors and establishment Republicans recoiled at the Jan. 6 siege on the Capitol that followed efforts by Hawley and others to block President Biden’s Electoral College victory. But fundraising numbers show the GOP grassroots is still firmly in Hawley’s camp.”

Hawley is the National Republican Senatorial Committee’s best fundraiser, next to the group’s president, making him an indispensable resource for the group, which bankrolls GOP Senate campaigns across the country. Overall, the NRSC pulled in more than $8 million, easily beating the Democrat senate fundraising arm, according to Reuters. On his own, Hawley pulled in $1.5 million for his campaign.

Axios noted that it is far and away Hawley’s best haul: “That’s more than 12 times what Hawley raised during the first quarter of 2020, and more than 34 times what he brought in during the first quarter of 2019 — and there’s still more than three weeks left in the current quarter,” it said.

State legislatures in several swing states continue to investigate allegations of vote tampering and unconstitutional changes to voting regulations just days before the November election.

–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice