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Article snippet: Democratic House campaigns made significant fundraising gains in the final months of 2017, putting the party in a strong position to fight for the House majority in the midterms. Dozens of House Democratic challengers outraised their Republican incumbents in the last three months of the year, while only a small handful of Republican challengers outraised the Democratic incumbents they hope to face. And Democratic challengers in races targeted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), House Democrats’ campaign arm, are in far better financial shape than GOP candidates in races targeted by national Republicans. The fourth-quarter money race is far from the only determining factor — many Republican incumbents still have higher cash reserves than their Democratic challengers, and those incumbents will have the luxury of avoiding crowded and expensive primaries. But the fundraising boost gives Democrats yet another jolt of optimism as they approach the midterms, hopeful that discontent with Congress and MORE’s low approval rating can help the party make a push to take the majority. “I'm never going to be one to say that Trump is going to be the singular factor to push all these candidates over the top, but Trump will shave a number of points off the deficit,” said Matt Thornton, a former DCCC communications director. “We have these candidates not only operating with a tailwind at the polls, but they also have a better message … that’s why we are s... Link to the full article to read more