Rep. Adam Schiff Leads Q4 2023 Senate Race Fundraising With $35 Million Cash On Hand

Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA) continued his massive fundraising lead for the U.S. Senate on Thursday, with FEC fourth quarter fundraising data showing him having nearly $35 million cash on hand at the beginning of 2024.

Prior data from the third quarter found that Schiff, following fundraising totals and expenditures for his campaign, had $32 million in his war chest. Congresswoman Katie Porter (D) meanwhile had $12 million going into the final three months of 2023, way ahead of the third place Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) who had $1.3 million. The notable exception was former baseball star Steve Garvey (R) who entered the race in October and thus wasn’t part of the filing.

However, following three tight months of the campaign in October, November, and December of 2023, the FEC gathered totals, and on Thursday, finally released the new totals for each campaign. According to the FEC, Schiff remained on top, bringing in $3 million more from fundraising than being spent. As of January 1st, his campaign sits at $34.93 million in the black, preparing for the final push for the primary election and the subsequent November election.

Porter, meanwhile, had her campaign spending a bit more due to the sudden emergence of Garvey and constantly topping her for second place in polls. In total, Porter slightly nudged up to $13.2 million cash on hand. In Comparison, Lee has continued her downhill slide. While she continues to be a Democratic darling in terms of endorsements, she slid into a distant fourth place in polling in recent months, with her campaign reflecting the slide. Donations dropped off, with Lee’s campaign losing half a million dollars in the past three months. As of January 1st, her campaign only has $815,000 to work with.

The big question has been Garvey. While some GOP donors have come forward, many are waiting until Garvey gets into the general election before wanting to shore up funding. With Democrats split in the primary, many other donors have been content watching Garvey coast into second place without having to campaign too heavily. Many of his celebrity and athletic backers have had the same idea as well. Garvey didn’t do many fundraisers like the other candidates, and did not put any of his own money into the campaign in the last quarter of 2023, reserving that push for the final few months of the primary and the general.

Porter second place in fundraising, third place in polling

According to the SEC, Garvey raised only around $600,000 in Q4 2023, which after spending, left him with $308,000 on January 1st. In comparison, the closest 5th and 6th place candidates, TV reporter Christina Pascucci (D) and lawyer Eric Early (R) had $154,000 and $140,000 on hand respectively.

Despite the underwhelming total for Garvey, his fundraising and spending levels is following his current plan for the March primary election, and that despite being massively out fundraised by Porter, is still beating her in the latest polls. The most recent poll from Emerson College has him 5 points ahead of Porter in second place despite the millions more she has in her war chest.

“You have to remember that Garvey just created his campaign from scratch in October,” LA-based pollster Angie Friedman told the Globe on Thursday. “Schiff, Porter, and Lee have had their campaigns rolling for a very, very long time, with everything all set up and carried over from Congressional campaigns. Garvey took it easy. I mean, he set up a good campaign and staff that can scale up, but he didn’t have the advantage of already having a campaign machine behind him. And look where he is at. Second place.”

“Schiff, love him or hate him, has proven to be a good fundraiser and smart spender on campaigns. I mean, the amount he gets from celebrities alone is probably more than Lee’s whole campaign. He has a ton of money right now. Porter too, but she is growing more and more worried. Her campaign is spending more with Garvey now threatening them. This was supposed to be the Schiff and Porter election, with the GOP only fielding maybe a state Senator or something as a modest show. They didn’t expect someone like Garvey, and it shows. Look how much the Porter campaign is pouring into fighting him now.”

“Porter gave up her House seat and raised tens of millions in preparation, and now she looks like she is going to lose to a Republican former ball player who only started his campaign in October. As for Lee, yeah, it is obvious now that it is winding down. She is either going to finish the ride or drop out and support one of the two. Honestly, Porter needs all the help she can get.”

“Right now, a Republican winning a Senate race in California is unlikely, just going by voter trends. But if Garvey wins second place in March and does well enough to garner at least 41% come November, the GOP will see that as a victory. They hit a low in the state around 2018, but a strong showing would help cement that the GOP might just be on their way bouncing back. And let’s not forget that Schiff, with all his problems, could have a major scandal come up between March and November. There are a lot of variables.”

New polls for the 2024 U.S. Senate election in California are to come out soon.