Republican congressional candidate Justin Fareed released a new poll last week showing he was two points ahead of his Democratic opponent Salud Carbajal — 46 to 44 — and a week later, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee issued a poll of its own poll indicating that Carbajal was 10 points ahead — 49 to 39.
While poll results are notoriously fungible, campaign finance reports are less malleable to manipulation. For the reporting period between May 19 and June 30, Carbajal, a three-term county supervisor, raised $279,153, bringing his total to $2.16 million. Fareed, now making his second bid for Congress and running as the anti-career politician, reported raising $117,620, bringing his total to $1.25 million. Fareed, 27, made it to the November election by upsetting Republican frontrunner Katcho Achadjian, a three-term California assemblymember and three-term county supervisor from San Luis Obispo.
“We’re not surprised Salud has raised the money he’s raised; he’s the establishment candidate,” said Fareed spokesperson Christiana Purves. “We’re building a grassroots movement and enlisting support wherever we can.” (None of these financial numbers reflect money spent by PACs, super PACs, and independent expenditure committees on behalf of either candidate.)