First, I have to give credit to Brainwrap and Daily Kos Elections for their excellent work. Without them compiling the data and sorting it out to highlight the most need, this article would not be possible. My effort here is to try and bring this information to a wider audience.
There are 6 different Democratic candidates in competitive districts that now need to replenish their coffers after bruising primary elections. They may have raised significant sums, but all that money went towards trying to get the nomination. That leaves these 6 candidates at a disadvantage in the general election race at this time.
Two more things — these reports were filed right around March 31st, meaning the data is a month old. The fortunes could have changed in that time frame. Also, there are races where the primary hasn’t happened yet. My policy is to ignore competitive races until the primary is settled.
1. Janelle Stelson
Stelson is a TV anchor in the area covered by Pennsylvania’s 10th district. She just won a contested primary on April 23, meaning her cash on hand is a very low $192k. Because of the primary, donations were split amongst several different candidates. Funding her campaign against the insurrectionist Rep. Scott Perry should be the #1 priority at this time.
2. Derek Tran
Derek Tran is a consumer rights attorney and our nominee for California’s 45th district. He had to get through a contested Top2 primary in which he barely advanced. He did raise the most cash out of all of the primary contenders, but most of that cash had to go to advancing in the Top2 on March 5th. He had a small $195k at the end of March, meaning depleted coffers. This is the second priority because the LA market is very expensive and Rep. Michelle Steel is a tough incumbent to beat.
3. Dave Min
State Sen. Dave Min is the protégé of outgoing Rep. Katie Porter. He had to go through a bruising primary where some vulnerability was exposed and will for sure be brought up in the general election. He has a more robust $425k, but he also is present in the pricey LA media market and will need as many donations as possible to defend himself from slimy attacks. This is the third priority because it is one of the most vulnerable seats we currently hold.
4. Michelle Vallejo
Small business owner Michelle Vallejo is seeking a rematch with Rep. Monica de la Cruz in Texas’ 15th district in the Rio Grande Valley. While her primary went virtually uncontested, she has had lackadaisical fundraising amounts so far in this race, racking up $458k. Luckily for her, the RGV is a cheap media market. Unfortunately, De la Cruz has a significant cash advantage and Trump won this district in 2020. In order to keep this race competitive, this is the 4th priority.
5. Rudy Salas
State Rep. Rudy Salas actually had a great fundraising quarter, raising over a million dollars for his campaign to oust Rep. David Valadao in California’s 21st district. Problem is that he used quite a bit of those donations to make sure he’d advance to the general election. I’m not too worried about his campaign war chest, as it has $754k even after the March 5th Top2 primary. Still, this race was an expensive one last time and likely will be again.
6. Sue Altman
Sue Altman is the head of the Working Families Party in New Jersey. She’s the only candidate for New Jersey’s 7th district, meaning she doesn’t have a contested primary to worry about. Her full attention can be spent savaging Rep. Thomas Kean, Jr. This district is an expensive one, sharing the Philadelphia and New York media markets. She has $914k to spend, which won’t get her far in this district. I expect her fundraising to pick up now that she is the only choice.
If you are looking to make bulk donations to avoid getting on their mailing and spam text lists, you can click on the links below and adjust the amounts you give to every candidate on the list. I highly recommend donating in this fashion, because I have enabled a pop-up that asks whether you want ActBlue to contact the campaign.
Donate to Local State Legislature Candidates at blue24.org!
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Here are all of the fundraisers from the Good News Roundup team!
Fundraisers for Gnuville, USA:
GoodNewsRoundup:
bilboteach (as described in detail here.)
5/08 Total $89.7k. Thank you all for your support!
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