Election 2014: Which Californian has the most cash for November?

Congressional candidates have reported their latest campaign contribution totals to the Federal Election Commission. Here are some of the highlights:

Still number one

Congressman Darrell Issa (R-Vista) still holds the title for most money in the bank among fellow Californians on Capitol Hill.  The head of the powerful — and very visible — House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has $3.3 million in his campaign war chest. His Democratic opponent Dave Peiser has less than $20,000.

Number two is number two

Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) was elected House Majority Leader last month. The new job certainly helped with fundraising; McCarthy raked in more than half a million dollars this quarter, giving him $3.2 million in the bank.

He won’t need it for his own November election campaign; he won the June primary with 99 percent of the votes in his district, so there's little threat of defeat in the general election. That leaves him lots of cash to dole out to fellow GOP members in tougher races around the country. It's a handy thing to have people grateful to you when you need their vote on a House bill.

The top House Democrat, Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), raised $343,000, with $654,000 in the bank. The number three House Democrat, Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles) raised $125,000 this quarter, giving him nearly $1.2 million in cash total.

Hotly contested races

Three Southern California races are attracting big bucks from around the country.

In Palm Springs, freshman Democrat Raul Ruiz has $1.9 million in the bank for his race against GOP challenger Brian Nestande, who lags behind with just over a quarter million.

Up in Ventura, another freshman Democrat, Julia Brownley, has a million and a half dollars on hand; her challenger, Republican Jeff Gorell, has about a fifth of that.

The Westside race to replace the retiring Henry Waxman had an expensive primary. Now, the two survivors of a crowded June field are scrambling to replenish their campaign accounts. Republican Elan Carr raised nearly $435,000 this quarter; Democrat Ted Lieu collected just under $360,000.  

Others with surprising big bucks

A trio of southern California incumbents are sitting pretty. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) has $2 million in the bank; Judy Chu of El Monte has nearly a million and a half.

The head of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) has $1.6 million in cash. They likely won't need the money for the November election: their three challengers have a combined war chest of just over $50,000.

And in last place

Paul Cook of Barstow raised the least amount of any southern California incumbent this quarter: just over $34,000. His challenger, Democrat Bob Conaway, raised even less, not even reaching the $5,000 threshold that requires filing paperwork with the FEC. He calls it “campaign on the cheap.”

Wonder how your member of Congress is doing?