Alabama Senate – Misryoum reports that Alabama’s GOP Senate primary fundraising in early 2026 shows Barry Moore outpacing Steve Marshall, with big spending gaps and a crowded field still undecided.
Alabama’s open Senate race is entering a sharper financial phase, with fresh campaign finance reports showing Barry Moore pulling ahead of Steve Marshall in the first quarter of 2026.
The numbers, filed this week, come from quarterly reports tied to the Republican contest for the seat opened when Sen. Tommy Tuberville announced he would run for governor. President Donald Trump endorsed Moore earlier this year, a boost that aligns with the fundraising gap the reports reveal.
For the January-to-March reporting period, Marshall raised nearly $180,000 and spent about $252,818.32, according to his campaign’s quarterly filing.. Unitemized contributions—small-dollar donations under $200—made up only a tiny fraction of his total funding, at just over $1,200.. The spending pattern matters because outspending while raising less can signal a campaign leaning on existing resources or prioritizing early visibility.
Moore’s campaign, by contrast, raised roughly three-quarters of a million dollars in the same three months and spent about $800,000, with far more reliance on unitemized contributions. His unitemized total was $107,990.86, suggesting a broader base of smaller donors alongside larger receipts.
Misryoum analysis of the filings points to a key structural difference: Moore isn’t just running a bigger operation on paper—he is also building that operation through a wider mix of funding sources.. In addition to raising more overall, Moore’s campaign received transfers from outside allied channels and other political committees.. The Eye of the Tiger Political Action Committee. connected to House Majority Leader Steve Scalise. provided $2. 500. and Scalise’s campaign transferred an additional $2. 000 to Moore.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee also made a major transfer—$62. 000—reinforcing that this contest is not being treated as purely local.. Late-March endorsements from Senate Majority Leader John Thune and NRSC chairman Tim Scott further underscore how quickly Moore moved from a Trump-backed candidacy to one supported by national party infrastructure.
Both campaigns ended the quarter with hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash on hand. a detail that will likely shape the ground game going into May’s Republican primary and the possibility of a runoff.. When both candidates have money in reserve. the advantage often shifts to who can sustain message frequency and staff capacity without burning through their cushion.
Jared Hudson, meanwhile, adds another variable to the Republican nomination fight.. Hudson raised almost $550,000 in the first three months, and about $90,000 of that came from unitemized contributions.. His campaign did not report contributions or transfers from other campaigns or PACs. distinguishing his funding profile from Moore’s more network-driven inflow.
Hudson also spent less than Moore—just under $350. 000—suggesting a strategy that is either more targeted or simply more cautious with burn rate early on.. In a crowded primary. that can sometimes be an advantage if the campaign believes persuasion matters more than saturating the airwaves immediately.
Polling data in the filings shows the challenge for both top contenders: even with Moore leading among likely Republican primary voters at 22 percent and Marshall close behind at 16 percent. Hudson sits at 12 percent and a large portion—47 percent—remains undecided.. For Misryoum readers. that undecided block is the real battleground. because it is where fundraising momentum can translate into vote momentum—if campaigns can sharpen their contrasts quickly.
On the Democratic side, the likely field includes Kyle Sweetser, Dakarai Larriett, Mark Wheeler and Everett Wess. The primaries for both parties are scheduled for May 19, with a June 16 runoff date if no candidate wins a majority.
With money moving quickly in this GOP primary, the next phase may come down to which candidate can best convert early fundraising strength into persuasion as Election Day approaches—and whether undecided voters consolidate around Moore, Marshall, or look to a third option like Hudson.
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