THE BUZZ: HARD DOLLARS — The Democrat with the most at stake in the outcome of California’s fiercest House races is Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the would-be speaker. But Rep. Pete Aguilar is a close second. Aguilar, the third-ranking Democrat — and highest-ranking Californian — in the House has made it a personal mission to flip control of the chamber with wins in his home state. His California House Majority Fund — a PAC that raised money jointly with five Democratic campaigns seeking to oust GOP incumbents — raised more than $750,000 since July 2023. That’s a small slice of Aguilar’s fundraising haul this cycle. His team said the Democratic Caucus chair raised more than $30 million for members, campaigns and the party, doubling what he brought in in 2022. For Aguilar, winning in the Golden State would not just be a matter of bragging rights. California is at an inflection point when it comes to flexing power on Capitol Hill. Scooping up some seats here would burnish Aguilar’s credentials as one of the state’s rising congressional power brokers. Aguilar spoke with Playbook about why he opted to raise money directly for Democrats Rudy Salas, Adam Gray, George Whitesides, Derek Tran and Will Rollins, his take on the state of play in those races and whether California or New York offers his party the best route to the majority. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. You launched California House Majority Fund last year to highlight the key California “red to blue” races. With roughly a month left before the election, how are you feeling about that effort? We definitely did what we needed to do to help these candidates. We were very clear that the path to the House majority runs through California. We wanted to be helpful in the races where we can play offense, to do everything we can to help these candidates. My belief is that … absolutely the best thing that we can do is to drive hard dollars to these candidates so they can spend it on their behalf in the most effective manner. Every dollar that we raise through the California House Majority fund went directly to these campaigns and the state party — no staff, no overhead, all of it straight to them. You mention “hard dollars.” The money you raised here is subject to contribution limits but also means the candidate has control over how the funds are spent. Given all the other fundraising you did this cycle, why was this particular approach of raising money directly with the campaigns worth doing? Well, because I’m a Californian first. That's home. That's where I have responsibility too — not just working with the House Democratic Caucus, but to ensure that our state and our 40-member delegation are represented. We have an opportunity to grow that delegation and to continue to be the strongest in Congress. The reason the hard dollars are so helpful — I'm the only member of leadership who's flipped a Republican-held seat. I know what that's like. I know what these candidates are going through. And I also remember what it was like when members helped me raise and to hit those goals that I needed to hit to communicate my message. It's always amazing when the DCCC or when House Majority PAC come in — sometimes you don't know what's going to happen, and sometimes it's a message that you don't always control. [With hard money], the candidates control 100 percent of the message for their campaign. Getting them the resources to be competitive was the smartest decision. You see your home state as the one that could deliver Democrats the House. Hakeem Jeffries is watching his home state, New York, as the one that could tip it to Democrats. Do you two have any friendly competition about whether it's California or New York that could put Democrats over the top? There's no competition. It is the same goal. Californians and I all want him to be speaker. That’s one of my loudest applause lines in California is when I tell people we want Hakeem Jeffries to be speaker. People get it. I love that he is helping and playing such a huge role in those New York races. I think our candidates are amazing, and that California is going to be the one to get us over the top — not just because we're in a different time zone and we'll be counting a little later, but I think that's just the reality of the map we have. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that she actually saw New York as the better pathway for Democrats. I think she's dialing up some expectations for our friends on the East Coast. Nobody knows the map better than Nancy Pelosi. If she says that's where it's at, then that's where it's at. I do think we offer a deeper reservoir of potential races that can flip. I know they might have probably the most likely district to flip — the Brandon Williams seat that John Mannion’s running in seems to be pretty high on our board. But I do think that we offer five incredibly competitive races that are probably all within the margin of error. Let’s talk about the map in California. What are some underappreciated dynamics you’re seeing out there? An interesting point from my visits in the Central Valley is it just feels different. CA-22 just feels a little different without Kevin McCarthy tending to the Bakersfield backyard. He always made sure that the Central Valley and those media markets always had the resources to help their members. CLF [the super PAC aligned with GOP Speaker Mike Johnson] is playing a role — that is unquestioned — but it just feels different. It feels like they’re rudderless on the other side. And I think Adam Gray and Rudy Salas have run very good races. A month or two ago, they eclipsed what they had raised in the cycle previously. What about the races in the pricey Los Angeles media market? Incredibly expensive on both sides. CLF and the Republicans are going to be forced to have to triage defending Michelle Steel, Ken Calvert and Mike Garcia. Based on the dollars that they have, I don't think that they're going to be able to do that. Our candidates have raised an amazing amount of money directly to be able to communicate their message. And now they need us. They need the DCCC and House Majority PAC to be helpful to them. GOOD MORNING. Happy Tuesday. Thanks for waking up with Playbook. You can text us at 916-562-0685 — save it as “CA Playbook” in your contacts. Or drop us a line at lkorte@politico.com and dgardiner@politico.com, or on X — @DustinGardiner and @Lara_Korte. WHERE’S GAVIN? In Mexico. More on that below.
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