Schiff leads Porter, Lee in cash race for Senate bid to succeed Feinstein

The race to succeed Dianne Feinstein in the U.S. Senate is heating up, with Rep. Adam Schiff building a significant fundraising lead over top Democrats, adding to a favorable recent poll to claim status as the early frontrunner a year before voters cast their March primary ballots.

Fundraising reports published April 15 show Schiff, of Burbank, reported $6.5 million in contributions for the first quarter of 2023, outpacing Rep. Katie Porter of Irvine, who raised $4.5 million — even though on Jan. 10 she became the first Democrat to announce a run for Feinstein’s seat, about two weeks ahead of Schiff. Rep. Barbara Lee of Oakland, who announced her candidacy Feb. 21, reported $1.1 million in contributions.

“He’s clearly the early frontrunner,” University of California-San Diego political science professor Thad Kousser said of Schiff. “But it’s really early in a campaign that’s going to stretch into November 2024. We’ve got 16 months to go — that’s a lot of time for Barbara Lee and Katie Porter to catch up.”

Combined with money he’d already raised for Congress, Schiff now sits on a total Senate campaign war chest of $24.7 million, compared to $9.5 million for Porter and $1.2 million for Lee.

While it may seem too soon for voters to start paying attention to the 2024 campaign, there is plenty of urgency for candidates to stake an early claim for key endorsements and top donors.

This week, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis and former state Controller Betty Yee both announced they’re running in 2026 to succeed Gavin Newsom, who will be finishing his second term. While political experts expect the field of contenders in that race to grow, the Senate race is coming into clearer focus.

Feinstein, the Senate’s oldest member at 89, announced Feb. 14 she would serve out her term but not seek reelection in 2024 to the seat she’s held more than three decades. Porter and Schiff had already declared they would run for Feinstein’s seat amid mounting questions about the senator’s mental acuity that were only amplified the day of her announcement when she seemed surprised her office had sent it out.

Feinstein since has been sidelined by complications from a bout of shingles, leading to pressure from some fellow Democrats, including Rep. Ro Khanna of Santa Clara, to step down now as her absence on the Judiciary Committee in the closely divided Senate stymies Democrats’ efforts to confirm federal judges.

Feinstein hasn’t endorsed a candidate in the race for her seat, which almost surely will be won by another Democrat. The party enjoys a two-to-one registration advantage in California over Republicans, who haven’t won a statewide race since 2006.

Republican lawyer Eric Early of Los Angeles, who lost bids for state attorney general in 2022 and 2018, and for Congress in 2020 against Schiff, announced April 11 he’s in the race for Feinstein’s seat — after the filing deadline for reporting first-quarter campaign fundraising.

Early is perhaps best known of the half-dozen Republicans vying for the seat. Of the others, Denice Gary-Pandol, a Middle Eastern affairs scholar from Bakersfield, has raised the most so far, $13,000 for the quarter and $40,000 overall. Seven other little-known Democrats and a couple other contenders round out the current field of 18 candidates.

Schiff, who gained national attention leading the first impeachment case against former President Donald Trump, has developed a formidable fundraising operation. He was expected to lead right out the gate because he was able to shift more than $20 million in leftover money raised for his 2022 re-election to Congress against a little-known Democratic opponent in a solidly blue district that includes Hollywood.

Porter, by contrast, though also an impressive fundraiser and rising star known for grilling corporate executives in Congressional committee hearings with whiteboard presentations, squeaked out a win last fall against Republican Scott Baugh in a hard-fought and expensive contest to keep her seat in conservative Orange County.

Lee, a liberal stalwart known nationally as the sole vote against authorizing war over the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, hasn’t been seen as an aggressive fundraiser and hasn’t needed to be to hold her seat in the Democratic stronghold of Oakland.

“Katie Porter had to raise money for her own political survival while Adam Schiff was raising money to advance his own career,” Kousser said. “That’s why Barbara Lee starts at a disadvantage. You have to have money to raise money, you have to invest in the fundraising infrastructure, and Schiff and Porter already built that.”

Some political observers expressed surprise that in the most-recent campaign filings Porter has struggled to gain traction against Schiff.

“She’s raised a great deal of money for her congressional races in the past,” said political analyst Dan Schnur, who teaches political science at several universities, “but getting donors excited about a campaign against another Democrat is a lot harder.”

A breakdown of individual contributions by amount shows Schiff led Porter and Lee among all donation sizes, from $200 or less to $2,000 or more.

“I think both my colleagues had impressive first-quarter showings, but we continue to set the mark,” Schiff said in an interview this week with the Bay Area News Group, crediting his support among Congress members — most notably, the endorsement of former House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi — and record of accomplishments. “I have a very strong track record of delivering for Californians.”

Porter, endorsed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, said she was “thrilled with our fundraising numbers, particularly the grassroots support,” noting she’s refused corporate political action committee money.

“Some people have 20 years worth of corporate PAC money,” Porter told the Bay Area News Group. “My campaign is different. I’m the one who knows what it takes to win in tough, competitive races.”

Lee, whose backers include Khanna and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, said she was proud to have raised more than $1 million in just five weeks. With her record of progressive accomplishments, she said she “doesn’t need as much money as her opponents,” just “enough money to get through the Top Two primary.”

Staff Writer Harriet Rowan contributed to this report.