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Schiff’s House Dowry

Adam Schiff
Adam Schiff raised $18.6 million dollars this cycle between his campaign committee and leadership PAC. Photo: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
Tara Palmeri
October 3, 2022

I was texting with a Democratic member of Congress the other day when I casually mentioned a figure that had confounded me: Adam Schiff, the highly-visible Mueller-era liberal hero who represents the wealthy L.A. adjacent exurbs, had raised $18.6 million dollars this cycle between his campaign committee and leadership PAC. In fact, I noted, Schiff has $20 million in his war chest. “Holy Fuck, that’s a huge amount” this member responded, wholly gobsmacked, but fully cognizant that Schiff’s financial prowess was his most tantalizing argument to replace Nancy Pelosi if or when she steps down after the midterms. (I’ll spare you the bellicose, obfuscating pushback from her spokesperson, who denies this without actually denying it.)

Schiff, after all, has always been an epic fundraiser, and he’s developed a Pelosi-esque national network to match. Schiff’s haul this cycle, in particular, is a powerful point of juxtaposition with the other members of the House vying for leadership in a post-Pelosiverse. Pelosi, of course, has raised the most of any member, with $34.5 million dollars between her campaign committee and leadership PAC, but even her war chest is smaller than Schiff’s as of the June 30 F.E.C. filing, with $16.5 million cash on hand. And none of Pelosi’s lieutenants in the leadership lineup have even raised more than $10.5 million this cycle between their campaign committees and leadership PACs. Indeed, by comparison, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer has $3.5 million cash on hand; Whip Jim Clyburn has $3 million; Democratic Caucus chairman (and presumed frontrunner to fill Pelosi’s shoes) Hakeem Jeffries has $3.2 million; Assistant Speaker Katherine Clark has $1.5 million; and vice chair of the Democratic caucus Pete Aguilar has $2.6 million.