The impeachment inquiry of Donald Trump thrust Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) into the national spotlight.
It may also threaten Nunes’ bid for re-election next year, reports Axios.
Nunes, the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, is spending heavily on the run-up to the 2020 election — “at least eight times” what he’d spent at this point prior to the 2018 election, when he eked out a narrow victory.
But Nunes’ Democratic opponent, Phil Arballo, tells Axios he got a huge fundraising boost after the public impeachment hearings began earlier this month — $310,000 in only two weeks.
Arballo “announced his congressional campaign in early June, and by the end of Q3 he’d raised over $380,000. Now, he’s nearly matched that in just two weeks’ time,” the news website says.
“It’s been good having Nunes in the spotlight,” Arballo told Axios.
Along with money, Arballo’s campaign says it has gained more than 35,000 new supporters since the hearings began — “people who aren’t just donating but volunteering.”
And the reason is clear, says an Arballo campaign email:
“During the hearings, [Nunes] proved his willingness to lie for Donald Trump — and now it’s clear that he’ll do anything, even compromise the security of our elections, to keep his Dear Leader in power.”