Democrat Schiff Announces $8 Million Fundraising Haul After Censure

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), a top contender for the U.S. Senate race in California, revealed Wednesday his campaign raised $8.1 million in the second quarter of 2023.

Schiff, who is hoping to replace retiring Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) in the solid blue state, said the haul came from 144,000 unique donors and that the average contribution was $34. He now has $29.5 million in cash on hand.

Schiff’s campaign touted a remark in Politico that “nothing so far comes close to Rep. Adam Schiff’s record-breaking” $8.1 million, a massive figure that far surpasses any other candidate who has announced his or her numbers for the last quarter.

Schiff’s growing war chest received a boost in the second quarter, when the House voted on party lines to take the extraordinary measure of censuring him for promoting allegations for years that former President Donald Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia in 2016.

Multiple federal investigations found no evidence of such collusion, though Schiff has never retracted his claims and embraced his censure as a “badge of honor.”

Amid the House voting on the censure resolution, the California Democrat appealed to his supporters in at least 20 fundraising emails and numerous social media posts, seeking their donations with statements like “we’ve already known that the GOP is completely unhinged and beholden to Donald Trump. Join me in fighting back.”

Schiff, who built his national popularity while targeting Trump in the first impeachment and again as a January 6 committee member, has embraced his identity as the former president’s foe.

When Trump recently called him a “treasonous Sleazebag” who “should pay a big price” in a statement on his social media platform, Schiff responded on Twitter, “Trump is threatening me on Truth Social again,” and attached a link to his fundraising page in a follow-up post.

In addition to his early fundraising prowess, Schiff has also notched endorsements from former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and a number of California state lawmakers and union groups.

He is facing, among several Democrat candidates, congressional colleagues Reps. Katie Porter (D-CA) and Barbara Lee (D-CA) in the race, though his fundraising numbers and endorsements are setting him up as a frontrunner at this stage.