McCarthy challenger rakes in $360,000 in second quarter

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) Democratic challenger Kim Mangone pulled in nearly $360,000 in the second quarter of 2020, raising more in three months than all of McCarthy’s previous general election challengers combined.

Mangone’s second-quarter haul brings her total fundraising for the cycle to roughly $510,000. That pales in comparison to McCarthy’s fundraising — he brought in $2.7 million in the first quarter of 2020 alone — but continues a cycle-over-cycle increase for Democrats in California’s deep-red 23rd District. 

The vast majority of Mangone’s funds — nearly 99 percent — came from donors giving less than $200, her campaign told The Hill, and her average donation size was $26.

McCarthy, a seven-term congressman and the highest-ranking Republican in the House, has sailed to reelection each cycle with more than 60 percent of the vote. But his margins of victory have ticked downward over the years, with 2018 marking the first time he won reelection by fewer than 30 points, still a sizable margin.

McCarthy and Mangone already went up against one another on California’s primary ballot in March, when the House minority leader routed his Democratic challenger by a 2-1 margin. But the state’s “jungle primary” system means that the two will face off again in November, because both were the two top finishers in primary.