Ex-Biden aide posts strong fundraising in House bid

A former aide to Vice President Biden is off to a strong start in fundraising for a House seat in South Carolina, raising $175,000 over the course of his first month.

Fran Person launched his campaign at the end of February, leaving only one month to report to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) for first-quarter fundraising.

The money haul is all the more remarkable given that the district where Person is challenging incumbent Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) isn’t considered by independent analysts to be competitive this cycle.

{mosads}Person, 33, served as Biden’s personal aide for eight years until he took a job two years ago with the University of South Carolina. And his connection to Biden appears to be paying off.

“The level of support we have received in just 32 days is encouraging and proves that Congressman Mick Mulvaney will face the toughest fight of his political career in November,” Person said in a statement on Thursday.

South Carolina’s 5th district was previously represented by former Rep. John Spratt, a Democrat who had served as House Budget Committee chairman for nearly three decades. Mulvaney became the first Republican to represent the district in more than a century when he defeated Spratt in the 2010 GOP wave election.

Redistricting after the 2010 Census has made the region solidly Republican. Mulvaney is one of the House’s most conservative lawmakers and a member of the hard-line Freedom Caucus.

The vice president penned a fundraising solicitation for Person’s campaign last month, writing that “Fran knows what it takes to compete and win” and “He is comfortable with heads of states as well as folks we’ve met on the street.”

Person said that he received contributions from notable members of the Democratic establishment, including from Assistant House Minority Leader James Clyburn’s (D-S.C.) political action committee and former South Carolina Gov. Jim Hodges.

Person’s athletic career from a football scholarship at the University of South Carolina also helped his first month of fundraising. A statement from his campaign noted that contributions flowed from former teammates and former Carolina Panthers and Cincinnati Bengals player Travelle Wharton, who co-chairs Person’s campaign committee.

Mulvaney quickly painted Person as a carpetbagger and a “Washington insider” upon the Democrat’s entry into the race. But he noted at the time that “I am taking this challenger and election seriously.”

Mulvaney will also face a GOP challenger, Ray Craig, in the June 14 primary. His most recent available fundraising report filed with the FEC through the end of last year showed he had raised about $345,000.