In an early test of strength in the race to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Rep. Adam B. Schiff has a notable financial edge over Reps. Katie Porter and Barbara Lee, according to federal campaign documents released Saturday.
While Schiff was widely expected to have a large war chest because he had a relatively easy reelection campaign last year, he also raised millions of dollars more than Porter, who also is known as a prodigious fundraiser.
"Schiff is in a better position than expected. Porter ended up coming shorter than expectations — she's going to have to demonstrate that she has more fundraising depth than it appears right now. And Lee's going to have to find another way of doing it other than lots of money, but we knew that from beginning," said Dan Schnur, a politics professor at the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Southern California and Pepperdine University. "Schiff has a very strong advantage but its not prohibitive. He's clearly the front-runner but he shouldn't be taking anything for granted."
