Devin Nunes’ impeachment defense marks a breakthrough — for his opponents
Rep. Devin Nunes’ week at the forefront of President Donald Trump’s impeachment hearings highlighted the catch-22 facing the congressman as he prepares for a 2020 re-election campaign:
The more visible he is, the more power his opponents have to run against him.
Critics of Nunes ridiculed him on Twitter throughout the hearings. At one point, “DevinNunesIsAnIdiot” was a top discussion topic on the social media platform.
Nunes’ challengers for his congressional seat capitalized on that heightened attention to promote their campaigns and ask for money.
Phil Arballo, a small businessman who has raised the most money in trying to unseat Nunes in 2020, since the start of the impeachment hearings has raised more than $235,000. That’s with an average contribution of $22 from more than 9,000 individual contributors, according to his campaign.
It’s a significant breakthrough for a candidate who raised about $250,000 total in the previous quarter, and about $130,000 in the first weeks of his campaign.
“Today showed we can’t afford to have @DevinNunes in Congress anymore,” Arballo tweeted Thursday, together with a link to his fundraising site. “Don’t get mad. Get even. Chip in now & show Devin what happens when you put your party over your country. You lose.”
Bobby Bliatout, who came in third in the primary against Nunes and Democrat Andrew Janz in 2018, had an “800 percent increase in fundraising” over the week, compared to the previous two weeks, according to Tom Dallas, his campaign manager.
Dallas, who did not provide a specific dollar amount, said the fundraising surge was due to the California Democratic Party’s endorsement of the campaign, combined with Nunes’ increased visibility.
Arballo and Bliatout might have more ammunition following public impeachment hearings, but Nunes is well-armed for 2020.
He has $7 million in cash on hand for his reelection campaign as of the last Federal Election Commission report. His aggressive fundraising this year coincided with his efforts to defend the Trump administration at House Intelligence Committee hearings and in appearances with conservative news programs.
But Nunes’ huge visibility as a close Trump ally also acts as a boon for his challengers.
Janz, a Fresno County prosecutor who was relatively unknown in 2018, raised about $9 million to challenge Nunes. But Nunes raised $12 million, defeating Janz by about 5 percentage points, his narrowest margin of victory of any of his elections to Congress.
Nunes won his 2016 election by more than 35 points.
Nunes has filed five lawsuits against Twitter, political adversaries and news media organizations this year alleging they conspired to damage his re-election chances and harm his ability to lead the House Intelligence Committee.
Those lawsuits also have magnified the audiences of Nunes’ opponents.
One lawsuit in particular — against Twitter, two anonymous Twitter users and a Republican strategist — propelled the audience for a social media account known as Devin Nunes’ Cow from about 1,000 followers to more than 600,000. The still-anonymous account frequently posts jokes about Nunes and appeals to support Nunes’ opponents.
Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-New York, has started experiencing similar blowback on Twitter after her impassioned defense of Trump during the impeachment hearings. “ByeByeElise” started trending on Twitter Friday, and her Democratic opponent, Tedra Cobb, said she raised more than $1 million the weekend after the first public impeachment hearing.
Stefanik, like Nunes, has won her district comfortably. She flipped a Democratic-held district in 2014, but that district voted for Trump by 14 points in 2016. Stefanik beat her Democratic opponent by 14 points in 2018, despite it being an election with significant gains for Democrats in the House.
This story was originally published November 23, 2019 at 4:38 PM with the headline "Devin Nunes’ impeachment defense marks a breakthrough — for his opponents."
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