District 22 Competitor Looks to Sink Nunes with DCCC Funding

As November midterm elections creep closer, Democrats are stepping up efforts to take back a Republican controlled Congress. But are they overlooking certain districts? California Democratic Candidate Andrew Janz thinks so.

Andrew Janz, a Fresno County deputy district attorney has been highly outspoken about his progress in the race to upset 8-term incumbent and loyal Trump supporter Devin Nunes (R-Central Valley) and Janz is confident he can win. Despite this assurance, some important players doesn’t necessarily agree.

With only a month left until Election Day, Janz is hoping for a boost in funding and he is pointing the spotlight on one particular group, the DCCC. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee who makes the decisions when it comes to dolling out party money to House candidates has yet to aid their district 22 ‘teammate.’ And for Janz, it could be too little too late. He has said publicly, “I’m worried about their lack of interest in a most compelling contest” citing the fact that the DCCC has yet to pony up for him.

Generally party leaders decide which campaigns are likely to succeed and which are likely to fail. Based on those decisions, money is spread around to different candidates. Janz believes the Democrats have noted his campaign to be a failing effort or perhaps just too far out of reach. But Janz sharply disagrees and he is calling out the party for their lack of effort in backing what he calls a very winnable race.

According to the SF Chronicle, a representative for the DCCC said “The DCCC trusts candidates to run campaigns that work best for their individual districts, which is exactly what Andrew Janz is doing … he has built a strong, independent Central Valley-focused campaign that will make this race competitive”

Although the big money backers seemingly approve of Janz’s efforts and even claim the race is winnable, it seems as if they are all talk. Not only have their actions so far let the candidate down, but after asking the Janz campaign what the current status is, a spokeswomen told the California Globe, “It looks like it’s not an option at this point … we’re just not a priority.”

Still Janz is not backing down or giving up. In fact, in the most recent poll covering the race, Janz was only 6 points behind Nunes with the tally running 50% to 44%. Furthermore, back in the June primary he was measured at only 32% of the vote compared to Nunes’s 58% which shows he’s gaining dramatically. This should serve as anenergizer for the Janz campaign and it proves he is far from out of the hunt.

It will be interesting to see if this news hits pay dirt with the DCCC because Nunes isn’t short of funding. According to Open Secrets, the race between these two competitors has produced over $10 million which is roughly $4 million more than any other district in the state. The federal money tracking site also lists Nunes with having nearly $6 million still on hand compared to Janz with just over $1 million.