Rep. Adam Schiff (D., Calif.) has amassed a sizable war chest thanks to his constant appearances on television, funds that could be used to lay the groundwork for a run for higher office if the opportunity presents itself.
When Schiff unseated an incumbent Republican to win his first ticket to Washington in 2000, the California Democrat's campaign raised $4.6 million in what was one of the most expensive congressional races in history at the time. Eighteen years later, Schiff is on pace to raise an equal or even greater amount of campaign cash even though he doesn't face a serious challenger in either the primary or the general in 2018.
According to FEC filings, the Schiff campaign committee has raised just over $3.4 million dollars in the 2018 election cycle and has almost $3.9 million cash on hand at the end of the reporting period.
While that fundraising haul might suggest Schiff is expecting a hard-fought campaign in the months ahead, the former federal prosecutor remains one of the safest representatives nationwide. Schiff walked away with 78 percent of the vote in 2016, and he has not failed to take less than 70 percent of the vote in any of the last three congressional elections he has won.
Schiff has raised more money in this cycle than he did in the last three cycles combined, and he still has about two-and-a-half quarters yet to go.
Conventional wisdom indicates that Democratic donors are rewarding Schiff for his visibility as the ranking minority member in the House Intelligence Committee as they conducted an investigation into President Trump and Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
"Rep. Adam Schiff (D., Calif.) has used the House's Russia investigation as his big break, becoming a near constant presence on cable TV to raise his profile," the GOP National Committee said in February when issuing a report analyzing the congressman's on-air time for network and cable news outlets.
The GOP's report claimed "[f]rom January 23, 2017 until February 25, 2018, Rep. Schiff … participated in a whopping 227 television interviews, clocking a cumulative total of 26 hours, 4 minutes, and 10 seconds on television."
The accumulation of campaign dollars that don't have to be spent for political survival is likely to increase the power and options available to Schiff: he can either dole out direct contributions, help fill PAC coffers, or roll the money over until he is ready to run for a higher office.
While he is unlikely to hop into the 2018 California Senate race, being able to bring $4 million to a theoretical Senate campaign four years down the road or more would likely be enough of a head start to warn other challengers within his own party. As a point of comparison, the Senate campaign committee for Kamala Harris raised about $15 million in 2016, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Jason Roe, a Republican political strategist in California who ran the campaign against Schiff in 2000, believes there is a larger shift that's advantageous to the congressman.
"The reality is statewide in California there's a huge generational change," Roe told the Free Beacon. "The Jerry Browns and Barbara Boxers and Dianne Feinsteins have either left the stage or are in the fast or slow process of leaving the stage. And there's a lot of opportunities for someone like a Schiff to advance."
One of the earlier openings could come in 2020 if Sen. Kamala Harris (D., Calif.) makes a presidential run.
"At the starting line, if he shows up with $5 to $10 million over the next couple of cycles, that's a pretty significant base of money to start from," Roe said. "I also think money begets money, that if he is seen as having a financial advantage, when donors are looking around trying to figure out what their best bet is, he's going to look a lot more attractive to donors."
Schiff's ambition and use of TV to raise his profile has even drawn the notice of the president.
President Donald J. Trump has written that Schiff "is desperate to run for higher office" and "spends all of his time on television pushing the Dem loss excuse!"
Closing the year with more than $3.5 million cash on hand, if that were to happen, would likely push Schiff into the top five house members with surplus campaign cash, based off a 2016 list compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics.
The Schiff campaign did not respond to a request for comment on the fundraising.
Another California member of the House Intelligence Committee is also sitting on a large war chest. Chairman Devin Nunes ended the first quarter of 2018 with about $4.5 million cash on hand. Unlike Schiff, however, Nunes is facing a credible challenger, Andrew Janz, who has raised $1.3 million, and has over $600,000 cash on hand.