Democratic challengers outraised seven Republican members of Congress in California over the last three months of 2017, the latest sign of a flood of support for Democrats as they try to take control of the House of Representatives in this year's midterm elections.
Republican Rep. David Valadao of Hanford, Calif., raised 10 times as much as his Democratic opponent last quarter, despite representing a district that backed Hillary Clinton for president in 2016, and where Democrats have a voter registration advantage. It's the third lackluster fundraising quarter in a row for Democratic challenger Emilio Huerta, the son of labor rights icon Dolores Huerta. He is the only announced challenger to the three-term congressman in the 21st Congressional District in the San Joaquin Valley.
Democrats have a few problems to sweat over in this year's midterm elections: winnowing their vast fields of candidates and navigating California's top-two primary system, to name a couple.
But in Orange County, a key battleground as they attempt to take back the House, money doesn't seem to be one of them. Incumbents in all four Orange County districts held by Republicans raised less money than some of their challengers in the last quarter of 2017.
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