Summer-time doesn’t have to be the only time to raise money.
Congresswomen Summer Lee (D-12) and her re-election campaign announced Thursday that it has raised over $1 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. That sum is her largest fundraising quarter ever.
The seven-figure haul was powered with small donations with 90 percent of the gifts under $25. The total also came without the support of any corporate PAC money, as Lee has pledged and refused to accept funding from the groups.
“A Republican-funded Super PAC threatened to spend $100 million against us – and our grassroots people-powered movement has responded loud and clear,” said Lee. “I am so proud of the multigenerational, mulitracial movement we have built in Western Pennsylvania to protect and expand our democracy – it is our greatest defense against the dark money Super PACs and corporate lobbies who seek to undermine it. They have Donald Trump and Nikki Haley’s donors, we have the overwhelming power of the people.”
AIPAC – the American Israel Public Affairs Committee – has targeted Lee and six other national progressives in this election cycle. The group plans to spend at least $100 million to oust critics of U.S. military support for Israel from Congress.
Candidates’ 2024 fundraising disclosures are due to the Federal Election Commission on January 31. Lee’s top challenger, Bhavini Patel, a borough council member in Edgewood, announced earlier this month that her campaign had raised more than $310,000 in the final quarter of last year.
Patel has not said whether AIPAC recruited her to challenge Lee, but her campaign is in touch with the group, according to a source familiar with the race. Another Democrat – Laurie MacDonald – is also challenging Lee in the primary,
Lee has received endorsements from all of House Democratic leadership including House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.).