“Vulnerable California House Republicans can’t claim to be independent of the toxic Republican agenda when they’re relying on Paul Ryan and the Trump White House to bail out their increasingly endangered re-election campaigns,” said Drew Godinich, DCCC Spokesperson. “For all the outside money Paul Ryan and the Trump White House pour into California, they’re still coming up short, as grassroots donations and compelling Democratic candidates continue to out raise the Republican corporate money machine across our state.”
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Los Angeles Times: McCarthy and Pence fundraisers shored up vulnerable California Republicans
Some vulnerable California House Republicans can thank House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Vice President Mike Pence for at least a fifth of the money they have raised for this year’s midterm elections .
A joint fundraising committee connected with Pence and McCarthy gave Rep. Steve Knight of Palmdale $133,000, or almost 28% of the money he’s raised in the last six months.
Central Valley Rep. David Valadao of Hanford isn’t far behind. He got $137,350, or 23% of the money he’s raised.
Huntington Beach Rep. Dana Rohrabacher’s $125,000 is 20% of the money he’s raised.
They are among the seven vulnerable California Republicans who have teamed up with McCarthy, of Bakersfield, and Pence to form the committee, called California Victory 2018. Each candidate gets a cut of the money the committee raises, mostly from major donors. So far it’s disbursed $4 million, with big chunks going to McCarthy’s campaign, to political action committees connected to McCarthy and Pence and to House Republicans’ campaign arm.
For Reps. Darrell Issa of Vista and Ed Royce of Fullerton (who have since announced their retirements) and Reps. Mimi Walters of Irvine and Jeff Denham of Turlock, the committee’s disbursement equaled 15% or less of their contributions.
The amount incumbents received from California Victory 2018 stands out because several Republican incumbents who got big donations from the committee have struggled to match contributions made to their Democratic challengers. Knight and Rohrabacher were both outraised by at least one opponent in the last six months, while Valadao has dramatically outraised his opponent.
Most of California Victory 2018’s donations were raised during a two-day trip to California that Pence made in October.
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