Marjorie Taylor Greene’s cash haul shows she doesn’t need the Freedom Caucus

Earlier this month, the House Freedom Caucus ousted perhaps its most prominent member when it booted the Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene. Typically, when Republicans are booted from these right-wing factions for being insufficiently conservative, it typically means their time is limited and they will have the base turn against them sooner rather than later. Ms Greene’s supposed sins included being too close with House Republican leadership and spending too much time badmouthing members of the rapscallions that make up the House GOP conference’s most right-wing members. Similarly, stories have abounded of her and Rep Lauren Boebert (R-CO) being at each other’s throats after previously being allies. For the most part, Ms Greene has seemed undeterred by her ostracisation and she seems fully confident in her position as a beloved figure. And a major reason for that might be the fact she remains a mega-fundraiser who can vacuum up tons of small-donor contributions from the base. The most recent fundraising quarter for candidates took place between the beginning of April and the end of June, which is to say before the news broke that the Freedom Caucus had exorcised Ms Greene. But it also came in the wake of Ms Greene firmly supporting Kevin McCarthy’s bid for speaker in January and after she had thrown her support behind the bipartisan agreement between the White House and Republicans to raise the debt limit. Ms Greene did so and broke from the Freedom Caucus, despite calling the debt limit bill a ‘s*** sandwich.’ But none of this has seemed to deter the base from loving her enough to throw some dollars her way. During that most recent quarter, she raised $1.13m in three months. Similarly, her campaign had $931,990.80 in cash on hand by the end of the fundraising quarter. Of course, given the overwhelming red tilt of her district, she likely does not need that much money. Indeed, she transferred $100,000 to the National Republican Congressional Committee, House Republicans’ campaign arm that helps them flip seats and hold the endangered ones they already have. By comparison, Ms Boebert raised $818,000, a drop in the bucket compared to Ms Greene’s fundraising haul. And incidentally, that was an actual increase from the previous fundraising quarter between January and March, when Ms Boebert raised a total of $763,700. It should be noted, that period was around the same time she and members of the Freedom Caucus and fellow bomb-thrower Rep Matt Gaetz (R-FL) sent the vote for speaker into 15 rounds. Turns out obstructionism didn’t pay enough for her, And it’s not as if Ms Boebert can afford to not raise mountains of cash. Colorado’s 3rd District is far more purple than Georgia’s 14th and last year, Ms Boebert only won her race by a little more than 500 votes over then-little-known Adam Frisch. Indeed, weeks before the midterm, my colleague Sheila Flynn and I reported that Ms Boebert might be in trouble because she was burning through cash . And things aren’t much better for Ms Boebert’s fellow traveler Mr Gaetz, who nearly incited a fight on the House floor due to his opposition to Mr McCarthy’s speakership bid. This last fundraising quarter, he raised only $483,980.44. This comes despite the fact that the Justice Department determined it would not charge Mr Gaetz in a sex trafficking investigation. Neither Mr Gaetz nor Ms Boebert is shy when it comes to seeking the attention of right-wing media. Indeed Mr Gaetz has guest-hosted a segment on Newsmax. But they have not registered or resonated with GOP voters in the same way Ms Greene has with voters enough to open their wallets. A major reason for this might be because Ms Greene remains incredibly close to Mr Trump in an era where fealty to Mr Trump has become a defining tenet of conservatism. Indeed, she campaigned with him in Georgia the weekend Mr Trump faced his second indictment for classified documents and traveled to New York to support him during his first indictment. That goes a long way with many supporters regardless of how chummy she is with Mr McCarthy, whom many base voters could take or leave. Ms Greene will likely continue to attack the hearts and minds of the conservative faithful. And she doesn’t need membership in the clubby Freedom Caucus to save her hide. And her continued insistence on showing pictures of a nude Hunter Biden shows she knows how to keep getting the checks flowing to her campaign coffers.