Republican challenger raises more money than Rep. John Garamendi — a first in seven years

For the first time in seven years, a Republican challenger to Rep. John Garamendi raised more money than the Democratic congressman in a campaign finance reporting period.

GOP candidate Tamika Hamilton raised $103,000 from April 1 to June 30, slightly more than the $99,377 Garamendi pulled in for his 2022 reelection campaign in that quarter.

It’s a small margin, especially because Garamendi has nearly $1.2 million in cash on hand, but it marks the first time a candidate has been able to compete financially with Garamendi since former Assemblyman Dan Logue challenged him in 2014.

Hamilton, an Air Force veteran, challenged Garamendi in 2020 and lost to him by nine percentage points. The margin was closer than expected, which led the National Republican Campaign Committee to list Garamendi as one of its top targets for the 2022 midterm congressional elections. He’s one of four California Democrats on the Republicans’ list.

“We think if (Hamilton is) properly funded and has campaign infrastructure, early on, which is what the case is now, she’s going to make this a much, much more competitive contest. And I think the second quarter fundraising results kind of show that,” said Hamilton’s spokesman, Micah Grant.

California’s third congressional district spans eight counties, including a portion of Sacramento County in the south up to Glenn County in the north.

Garamendi has represented the district, where Democrats have a nearly 11 point registration advantage, since 2013.

In a district where 29% of voters are registered Republicans, Hamilton picked up 45% of the vote in 2020.

Hamilton said she’s better prepared to close the gap than she was in her last race.

“I was brand new to all of this, and, you know, I’ve been in the military 18 years, I’m a mom, and I came into this kind of like, super new, never having connected with politics,” Hamilton said. “Now having learned so much in the past year and a half and moving forward to the cycle, we have so much more infrastructure, and we are truly set up to win this race in 2022.”

The Garamendi campaign did not respond to requests for comment.

This story was originally published July 24, 2021 at 5:25 AM.