CA-33: Money Pours into Carr-Lieu Race as Election Day Looms

CA-33: Money Pours into Carr-Lieu Race as Election Day Looms

LOS ANGELES — With under 24 hours to go until election day polls open on Tuesday, an influx of outside money has poured into the battle for California’s 33rd congressional district race between Republican criminal gang prosecutor Elan Carr and Democrat State Sen. Ted Lieu.

According to campaign finance watchdog OpenSecrets.org, the two candidates have raised over $3 million combined, making the CA-33 race one of the most expensive in the country.

In the last two weeks alone, the American Alliance PAC has spent roughly $500,000 supporting Elan Carr and opposing Ted Lieu; that money was spent mostly on television advertisements and direct mail campaigns. On Lieu’s side, Blue America PAC has spent approximately $20,000 on newspaper advertising over the past few weeks.

While Carr has certainly gained a fundraising edge in the last two weeks of the election, Lieu still leads in fundraising overall, having raised $1.95 million over the course of his campaign, according to OpenSecrets. Carr trails with $1.3 million.

On Sunday, the Carr for Congress campaign posted a message to its Facebook page, saying that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) had begun polling in the district, and that the Carr campaign liked the results they saw.

“We just learned that the DCCC is polling in our race and they’re probably seeing the same thing we are — we’re winning!” the message read.

According to the Cook Political Report’s Partisan Voting Index, California’s 33rd district had a PVI rating of D+12 in 2012, making it among of the more Democratic-leaning congressional districts in the country. Democrats enjoy a huge voter registration advantage in the district, an unsurprising political reality in a district represented by Democrat icon Henry Waxman for the past 40 years.

Carr will need to rally the Republican base in the district, as well as attract some independent voters and even some Democrats if he is to have any chance of winning on Tuesday. In a March interview with American Thinker, Carr said he liked his chances. Carr explained in the interview:

The district and the climate are changing. The voter turnout will not be as high as a presidential election. The sixth year of any presidency has the electorate tending to break decidedly against the president’s party. It is called the Six Year Itch. Because the president’s poll numbers are quite low and voters are worried about the economy, jobs, the national debt, and education, I think I have a good chance.

Election day polls open at 7 a.m. PST Tuesday, and will remain open until 8 p.m. A list of polling locations by district can be found here.

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