Fredreka Schouten for USA Today:

Two groups focused on keeping the Senate in Republican control collected nearly $17 million during the first three months of this year, according to figures first provided to USA TODAY.

In all, the groups — Senate Leadership Fund and One Nation — have raised $38.8 million so far in the election cycle, giving the chamber’s Republicans a financial boost in what will be a difficult election year for the party. The organizations were launched last year by Steven Law, a former chief of staff to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

Senate Leadership Fund is a super PAC. One Nation is a nonprofit. Both can collect unlimited sums and were organized to compete with the Senate Majority PAC, a super PAC aligned with the Senate’s top Democrat, Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada. That group had collected $9.2 million through the end of February, its most recent filings show.