Rep. Devin Nunes raised more than $1.1 million for his 2020 reelection during the first three months of the year, notching another big haul in a fundraising hot streak that stretches back to last year.
The California Republican, who now has $5 million in the bank, shared these figures with the Washington Examiner ahead of the April 15 Federal Election Commission first-quarter filing deadline. Nunes is a fundraising juggernaut, popular with small donors on the Right for his staunch defense of President Trump throughout special counsel Robert Mueller’s federal investigation into alleged collusion with Russia.
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The probe concluded last month and Trump was essentially cleared of colluding with Russia. But Nunes, the top Republican on the House Select Committee on Intelligence, is still a fixture on conservative media as Democrats and Republicans debate the outcome of the investigation.
The congressman’s high profile, combined with the lucrative email fundraising list he built last cycle as his name identification and positive image was on the rise with grassroots Republicans, should keep the money spigot flowing as 2020 approaches.
In the first quarter of 2018, an election year, Nunes raised about $1.25 million, significantly more than in any previous period. In the second quarter of that year he quadrupled that, raising $5 million as his email fundraising list began paying major dividends. Per election commission filings, Nunes raised $12.6 million for the midterm election cycle, finishing last year with more than $4 million in the bank despite spending millions to defeat his Democratic challenger.
The congressman’s Central Valley district is safe Republican territory. But Democrats, with fewer targets after flipping 40 seats and winning control of the House in 2018, could come after him again. For Nunes, 45, his bid for a tenth term could be defined by a host of lawsuits he is filing against media outlets, social media platforms, and political professionals, alleging defamation.
Thus far, the congressman has filed suit against McClatchy, publisher of a chain of newspapers; Republican strategist Liz Mair; and Twitter and the holders of two anonymous parody Twitter accounts, “Devin Nunes’ Cow” and another identifying itself in some fashion as “Devin Nunes’ mom.”
McClatchy has described the suit as a “baseless attack on local journalism and a free press.” Mair declined to comment for this story, although she said in a USA Today op-ed that “a sitting member of the U.S. government, specifically, a congressman, is trying to stifle free speech.”
Some experts have criticized the defamation lawsuits as sitting on constitutionally brittle ground. But a confident Nunes said even more suits are planned.
