Republicans vying to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom in the recall election will have to overcome an enormous fundraising gulf, but latecomer Larry Elder has quickly vaulted ahead of his GOP rivals, new campaign filings show.
Elder, a longtime conservative talk show host, reported collecting nearly $4.5 million in July after declaring his candidacy last month. In mere weeks, his total eclipsed what fellow Republicans had raised in months, and daily filings show Elder has pulled in another $440,000 in the first few days of August.
The highest-raising Republican contenders registered hauls in the low millions, while Newsom has raised at least $45 million since the start of 2021. All told, Republicans have cumulatively raised a fraction of Newsom’s stash, which has allowed the governor to dominate the airwaves this summer and puts him in position to continue running ads statewide in the roughly five weeks left before the Sept. 14th election.
