California leaders look for donation boosts amid political tensions
Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!
FUNDRAISING AMID THE FALLOUT
Few things drive money in politics like outrage, and politicians on both sides of the aisle aimed to capitalize on the events that unfolded in Los Angeles last week.
As Gov. Gavin Newsom pushed back on the Trump administration’s deployment of U.S. Marines and National Guard soldiers in the courts and on social media, he also blasted out updates and requests for donations via email, text messages and ads online.
“If standing up to Trump matters to you, please donate to my Campaign for Democracy PAC today,” a note at the bottom of a recent email to Newsom’s supporters reads. He pledged to use the funds to “(take) the fight to red state authoritarian leaders.”
Newsom spent $67,000 on Meta political ads last Monday, his single largest buy with the company over the past six years, according to Andrew Arenge with the Penn Program on Opinion Research and Election Studies.
A couple of fundraising emails from Attorney General Rob Bonta’s reelection campaign last week ask for $5 donations “to support our people-powered campaign as I focus on holding the President accountable to the law.”
Sen. Adam Schiff’s campaign Friday sent a fundraising appeal describing how Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., was forcibly ousted from Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem’s press conference the previous day.
“All Alex was trying to do was ask a question and do his job of oversight. He’s demanding accountability and transparency into the actions of the Department of Homeland Security. He has every right to do so,” wrote Schiff, D-Calif. “That the administration’s response was to forcefully remove him points to the very dangerous path our country is heading down.”
He went on to discuss how Padilla is “one of the most decent people I know.”
“So while Alex and I continue to demand accountability from this administration and fight for Californians, please pitch in to our campaigns to help us keep up this incredibly important work,” Schiff urged.
Schiff was elected to a six-year Senate term last year. Padilla’s term runs through 2029. The appeal seeks donations of $25 or more. The appeal says the funds would be split between the senators.
Other Democrats cited the Padilla incident in seeking funds. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., talked about the incident and asked for a small “grassroots contribution.” KamalaHarris.com asked donors to split a donation between Padilla’s re-election and the Democratic National Committee.
On the GOP side, the National Republican Congressional Committee has been posting messages on its blog and sending emails all week seeking donations while bashing vulnerable California Democratic House incumbents.
Friday, the message from committee spokesman Christian Martinez was that “Democrat Adam Gray has completely turned his back on Californians by putting illegal immigrants first at every turn. He’s not just out of touch, he’s actively selling out Californians to score cheap political points with the fringe left.”
Gray, D-Merced, last year defeated an incumbent Republican by 187 votes. Just above the NRCC message Friday were instructions on how to text the committee “to help defend our conservative majority” and in the corner the word “Give.”
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“The addiction that we have is to helping Californians.”
— Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, addressing comments from Tony Strickland, R-Huntington Beach, that state Democrats are addicted to spending
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