Rosa DeLauro steps up fundraising as campaign heats up

With her wealthy Republican opponent blanketing her district with attack ads, Rep. Rosa DeLauro picked up her campaign fundraising in the last quarter.

The latest filings with the Federal Election Commission show DeLauro raised more than $405,000 for her re-election campaign from July 1 to Sept. 30, a substantial boost over the $188,000 she raised the previous quarter and from the $207,000 she raised during the third quarter of 2018, when she faced underfunded Republican rival Angel Cadena.

This time, DeLauro is being challenged by Margaret Streicker, a wealthy real estate developer from Milford who has raised nearly $330,000 in donations and has loaned her campaign $455,000.

Streicker began advertising on television in early September and has been airing three ads since then, the most recent one attacking DeLauro for allowing former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who also served as White House Chief of Staff under President Barack Obama, to live in a basement guest room in her home on Capitol Hill for five years until 2010. Emanuel was a House colleague of DeLauro’s for most of the time he lived in DeLauro’s house. He also headed the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for part of that time.

DeLauro has recently begun advertising on television, as well as stepping up her online advertising. Her television ad is mainly positive, focusing on her work in Congress and showing the lawmaker rolling up her sleeves “and getting things done.”

The ad also, however, cautions that “talk is cheap,” perhaps an oblique slam at Streicker.

DeLauro has represented the New Haven-based 3^rd Congressional District since 1991 and has not had a competitive race since the first time she ran for the U.S. House. She won 64% of the vote when she ran for re-election against Cadena in 2018.

The Cook Political Report and other analysts say she is heavily favored to win re-election again.

Correction: The original version of the story incorrectly reported that DeLauro won reelection in 2018 with 94% of the vote. In fact, DeLauro won that year with 64% of the vote.