Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) may be one of the most notorious partisan figures in Washington, but he remains “relatively” unknown in his home state — which poses a challenge for him as he campaigns for the U.S. Senate.
Schiff, who led the first impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, sat on the January 6 Committee, and was removed by Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) from the House Intelligence Committee because of his abuse of secret information, is a hero to many Democrats for his dogged efforts to remove Trump from office.
However, as the Sacramento Bee notes, Schiff is struggling with name recognition in California in his race to replace Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), where he faces rival Reps. Katie Porter (D) and Barbara Lee (D):
Schiff may have won over avid MSNBC viewers with his attempts to impeach Trump in 2019 and 2020. But even those aware of him are probably not familiar with his stances on important California issues, such as housing, homelessness and child care.
Now he faces an uphill battle to win over Golden State voters in a competitive race against two House colleagues: Rep. Katie Porter of Orange County and Rep. Barbara Lee of Oakland. The top two vote-getters in the March 5 primary advance to the general election.
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Schiff has been a Los Angeles-area congressman for 23 years. To win statewide, “he’s got to raise his name recognition,” said Spencer Kimball, Emerson College polling executive director. Porter, Lee and Reese face the same challenge.
Schiff is also struggling to draw support from younger voters, who tend to favor 49-year-old Porter, the Bee notes.
One area where Schiff has not struggled is in fundraising. His national profile among Democrats has helped him raise more than twice as much money as Porter, and he had three times as much cash-on-hand last month.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.