Wasserman Schultz challenger reports $2M raised in fight for Florida seat

Tim Canova, the primary challenger to Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, said Thursday he has raised more than $2 million in his campaign to unseat the Florida representative.

{mosads}Those donations come from 58,000 donors and 115,000 individual contributions in a five-month span, the campaign said in a statement Thursday. 

“People all over Florida and all over our district are supporting our campaign for change. They have had enough of a political system that is awash in corporate money and corporate influence,” Canova said. 

“We all have an interest in a decent jobs market, affordable prescription drug prices and health care, educational opportunities, and safe and health communities. Wasserman Schultz’s corporate donors are often standing in the way of progress for all.” 

Wasserman Schultz hasn’t publicly released fundraising totals since April, but from the beginning of the year to March 31, she received $632,000 in contributions, according to federal filings, and had about $836,000 cash on hand.

From the first of last year to the end of March, she raised $1.7 million, filings show. 

Canova began his campaign relatively unknown but nabbed the endorsement of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, boosting both his visability and campaign coffers. 

A fundraising email from Sanders in May netted Canova more than a quarter of a million dollars in donations in one day, according to US News & World Report.

The two share similar ideas, from reforming the campaign finance system to removing Wall Street interests from government. 

Sanders and his supporters also have argued that Wasserman Schultz, in her role as DNC chairwoman, has tilted the scales in the favor of presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. 

However, Wasserman Schultz still remains popular in her district, which voted for Clinton over Sanders by a more than 2-to-1 margin in the state’s March presidential primary. 

She also has the endorsements of President Obama and Vice President Biden.