Large fundraising haul by Steel marks the 6th consecutive quarter she has raised over $1 million in the 2024 cycle
Garden Grove, CA – Congresswoman Michelle Steel announced today raising nearly $1.1 million in the FEC’s 2nd quarter ending with $3.8 million cash-on-hand. Steel’s hefty haul raises her cycle-to-date total to over $6.4 million raised, and marks the sixth consecutive FEC quarter Rep. Steel has raised over $1 million in the 2024 election cycle.
By comparison, Democrat trial attorney Derek Tran ended the FEC’s 1st quarter with less than $200,000 cash-on-hand after barely escaping a primary election by only 367 votes against a city councilwoman who sent a single mail piece to primary voters.
Tran, who is struggling to gain traction after a poor primary showing, has been floundering and clamoring for attention but has only been plagued by bad news and gaffes that have drawn the ire of local leaders.
Here’s what you may have missed:
- Nearly 4 dozen Asian American community leaders and organizations in the district signed a letter denouncing Derek Tran and demanding he apologize for comments he made to Punchbowl News about Steel and her family’s immigration to America.
- Trial attorney Derek Tran was not only caught editing his biography in an attempt to rebrand himself, but was also caught twice poll-testing occupations and ballot titles to make himself more tolerable in the eyes of CA-45 voters.
- Politico reported that Derek Tran deleted a social media graphic of a handgun angled towards the head of Congresswoman Michelle Steel – only after media reports and a social media uproar including from local community leaders. Tran issued no apology.
- Tran’s campaign pitched an internal poll to reporters that actually shows Trump beating Biden by 6% in a district that Biden won by 6% in 2020. That’s right. The Democrat polling in the district shows Trump performing 12% better than in 2020.
- The Tran spin machine has been working feverishly to push the narrative that Tran can win over Vietnamese voters, but his own internal poll shows Steel beating Tran amongst likely Vietnamese voters, Trump winning Vietnamese voters by 23%, and Republicans winning the generic ballot by 25% amongst Vietnamese voters. No response by the tired Tran spin machine.
- Punchbowl reports that “Tran is decidedly not in the top tier of flip opportunities in California” and “Knocking off Steel – a prolific fundraiser who boasts a strong ground game in the Orange County district – will be an uphill battle.”
“Voters of this district know where Rep. Steel stands on the issues, know that she’s standing up for her constituents against the DC elites, and that she’s working tirelessly to deliver real results. That’s why she continues to have a broad base of support and is in a strong position to be re-elected in November,” said Sam Oh, general consultant. “No amount of spin by the Tran campaign, paid acting lessons from clowns, or sad lies and distortions of the truth will change that.”
Rep. Michelle Steel won reelection in 2022 by 4.8% in one of 18 Republican-held seats that Biden won in 2020. Cook Political Report currently projects the race as Lean Republican.
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