(Bloomberg) -- The Republican National Committee raised more than its Democratic rival in September but saw its cash advantage eclipsed as the two parties stockpile money before the 2022 midterm elections, according to their latest filings with the Federal Election Commission.

The Democratic National Committee brought in $11.4 million and spent $9.5 million in September. Along with the Democratic Grassroots Victory Fund, an allied committee that raises money for the DNC and its state affiliates, the party started October with a combined war chest of $74.5 million.

That topped the $70.7 million that the RNC has amassed. The GOP raised $12.7 million while spending $16.6 million in September. 

Both parties sent money to their affiliates in Virginia, where Republican Glenn Youngkin, the party’s candidate for governor, is neck-and-neck in the polls with Democrat Terry McAuliffe, who served in the office from 2014 to 2018. The DNC gave $1.1 million to the Democratic Party of Virginia and also provided political consulting and technology consulting. The RNC sent $454,550 to the Republican Party of Virginia. 

Much of the parties’ war chests will be used to contest close races in the 2022 midterms. Republicans have a chance to regain control of the House after losing the chamber in the 2018 elections. The party lost the Senate early this year after losing the presidency in November. 

Parties that hold the White House traditionally lose House seats in the midterms. Republicans lost 41 seats in 2018, with Donald Trump in the White House. Democrats lost 63 seats in 2010 during President Barack Obama’s first term.

The House is narrowly divided, with Democrats holding 220 seats compared to 212 for Republicans and three seats vacant. The Senate is split 50-50, with Democratic control resting on Vice President Kamala Harris’s ability to cast a tie-breaking vote. 

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.