Turning in their first quarter fundraising numbers this week, Reps. Young Kim, R-Calif. and Michelle Steel, R-Calif. were able to outraise their competition in two highly competitive House races in Southern California.
Kim, a two-term incumbent who represents Anaheim Hills, raised $1.3 million in the first three months of 2024, bringing her cash on hand total to over $2.9 million. Her opponent Joe Kerr raised over $638,000 and has more than $397,000 cash on hand, displaying a sharp financial contrast between the two opponents.
“Congresswoman Young Kim continues to provide responsive, commonsense leadership Southern Californians need right now amidst challenging times for families struggling to make ends meet and increasing crime rates,” said Sam Oh, a general consultant to her campaign in a release announcing the fundraising haul. “Rep. Kim has always put people before politics to achieve results. That’s why she has such a strong base of support and will be re-elected in November.”
Kim’s district neighbor Steel, who also arrived on Capitol Hill in January 2021, brought in over $1 million and has over $3.2 million cash on hand. Steel is facing a challenge from Democrat Derek Tran, who raised over $433,000 in the first quarter, and has over $195,000 cash on hand.
Tran, who was one of four Democrats running in the primary to challenge Steel in the general election, was recently placed on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s ‘Red to Blue’ list, which is an indicator that the committee is invested in these specific candidates and sees the districts as a key part of Democrats strategy to regain control of the House. Tran faced three other Democratic candidates in the primary before securing his spot on the November ballot, and only jumped in the race back in October, months after his opponents had already declared their intent to challenge Steel.
Despite the support Tran has been able to rally to clear the Democratic field, Steel's camp says they are confident in her ability to hold on to her seat.
"Michelle wins elections because voters — Republican, Democrat and Independent — know that she is their number one advocate for lower taxes and a strong national defense, while her opponent is simply another Washington recruited candidate whose sole focus is raising taxes on working families,” said Steel campaign spokesman Lance Trover.
Both Steel's and Kim’s districts went for President Joe Biden in 2020, and with Biden and former President Donald Trump on the ballot again at the top of the ticket, these two races will be watched closely by both Democrats and Republicans across the country.
“[Michelle] Steel is running a very conservative campaign. She's endorsed Trump for re-election, she's taken very conservative stances on other issues,” said Daniel Schnur, a professor at the University of Southern California. “Young Kim, on the other hand, is running much more as a centrist. She's keeping her distance from Trump. And so these two candidates in two adjoining districts in an area that used to be safely Republican are taking two very, very different approaches, and how they deal with the top of the ticket.”
“If either or both of them wins, it’s going to tell us a lot about the national Republicans path going forward over the next few years,” Schnur predicted.
While Democrats are eyeing California’s 40th and 45th Districts as potential pickups in the race for the House majority, Republicans are remaining confident in maintaining these two seats.
“The outpouring of support for Representatives Steel and Kim continues with another impressive quarter powered by enthusiasm for their strong leadership. While extreme liberals Derek Tran and Joe Kerr stumble out of their costly primary battles, Representatives Steel and Kim have built formidable war chests,” a spokesman for NRCC said.