THE BUZZ — It’s the most wonderful time of the year: when candidates have to disclose who gave them money, and what they spent it on. Last night's federal campaign filing deadline gave us new insights into key contests — including a first look at the numbers for Steve Garvey. The former baseball star-turned-Republican Senate candidate reported raising $610,000 in the last quarter of 2023, ending the year with $308,000 cash on hand. It's nowhere close to Reps. Adam Schiff and Katie Porter, but maybe it doesn’t need to be to squeak by Porter and nab the second spot for the runoff. There is one title the baseball MVP can claim: best funded Republican Senate candidate. His main competition on the right, perennial candidate Eric Early, brought in $265,000 in the last quarter, and has $140,000 in the bank. We took the liberty of bestowing some other titles on California’s political hopefuls: THE WELL-CONNECTED ROOKIE — It helps to have allies in elevated places, as Assemblymember Vince Fong is learning. As he runs to succeed ex-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Fong has scored an endorsement from McCarthy and collected cash from the former speaker’s friends. PACs tied to McCarthy’s Republican backers and former lieutenants in the House channeled tens of thousands to Fong. THE EAGER BEAVER — Rep. Ro Khanna has passed on a couple of U.S. Senate runs, deciding to back Rep. Barbara Lee this cycle, but he’s certainly piling up money like someone with ambitions beyond a safe blue House seat. The Silicon Valley Democrat reported an astonishing $9.4 million on hand and plowed $125,000 into building his email list. DEEPEST POCKETS — Gil Cisneros’ lottery jackpot win 14 years ago is the gift that keeps on giving to his political ambitions. Cisneros, a Democrat, is yet again tapping into his personal wealth to fund a congressional bid. Last quarter, he loaned himself $1.8 million — his total for the cycle is well north of $2 million — in his intraparty battle to succeed Rep. Grace Napolitano in a safe blue seat. His largesse surpasses that of other notable self-funders elsewhere in California, such as former Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides, who has now seeded his bid to oust Republican Rep. Mike Garcia with more than $1 million since he launched his campaign; Democrat Ben Savage (yes, of Boy Meets World fame), whose $200,000 loan this quarter pushed his total investment in his race for Schiff’s House seat to seven-figures; and Margarita Wilkinson, a Republican who put in $150,000 this quarter (and nearly $1 million overall) for her bid to unseat Democratic Rep. Mike Levin. FOXIEST DEMOCRATS — FOX Corporation’s PAC donated several thousand dollars to a few California Democrats, including Reps. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, Doris Matsui, Jim Costa and Nanette Barragán. BIGGEST UNDERACHIEVER — Kim Nguyen-Peñaloza seems tailor-made to take on GOP Rep. Michelle Steel in Orange County (at least, so says the LA Times editorial board). But she has consistently been hamstrung by lackluster fundraising, causing national Democrats to consider other options. This quarter was no exception; she brought in just $75,000. By comparison, her main Democratic rival, Derek Tran, raised north of $500,000. Steel also raised around half a million dollars, plus floated herself several hundred thousands in loans. BIGGEST OVERACHIEVER — Will Rollins not only pulled in a million-dollar haul this quarter, the Democratic challenger outpaced incumbent Rep. Ken Calvert by roughly $300,000 in contributions. The two entered 2024 essentially at a draw when it came to cash on hand. More impressive, Rollins didn’t dig into his own pockets to loan his campaign dough and boost his totals. — With help from Jeremy B. White GOOD MORNING. Happy Thursday. Thanks for waking up with Playbook. Now you can text us at 916-562-0685 — save it as “CA Playbook” in your contacts now. Or drop us a line at lkorte@politico.com and dgardiner@politico.com, or on X — @DustinGardiner and @Lara_Korte WHERE’S GAVIN? Nothing official announced.
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