California Democrat Will Rollins Breaks Off-Year Fundraising Record in Race Against GOP Incumbent (Exclusive)

Democrat Will Rollins lost to Republican Rep. Ken Calvert by around 11,000 votes in 2022. He’s back again to try and knock off Calvert — armed with lots of money to try and do what he couldn’t two years ago. 

Rollins said Wednesday he raised more than $1 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, spanning October through the end of December; he will report having $2.1 million cash on hand entering 2024. He has raised $2.8 million in 2023, which the campaign says is a record raise for a California challenger in an off year. For comparison, Rollins raised $3.7 million during his entire 2022 campaign. 

A former federal prosecutor, Rollins is running in a district considered a “toss-up” by the non-partisan Cook Political Report with Amy Walter. The DCCC also named the 41st as a “District in Play.” The district became bluer after redistricting, picking up Palm Springs and its large LBGTQ community, where Rollins lives.  In 2020, former President Donald Trump won the district by one percentage point. California’s 41st congressional district will be one of the several key races in the Golden State that will likely determine the partisan balance of the House in 2024. 

Last quarter, Rollins outraised Calvert, $837,000 to $731,000. In the last fundraising report, Calvert had about $2 million cash on hand. 

In an interview with The Messenger, Rollins attributed his fundraising success to the “unique matchup” between him and Calvert, who has served in Congress since 1993. He casts Calvert as someone who’s going “further and further to the right.” 

“At the end of the day, people know that those extreme candidates are going to do much worse relative to mainstream folks who want to build coalitions,” Rollins said, noting that he’s been endorsed by former GOP members of the California state assembly. 

Looking back on his 2022 defeat, Rollins said that he learned that the most important resource is time, and that’s why he started his rematch early so he could raise the money necessary to wage a winning campaign. 

“Those western cities in my district are where we have to drive up turnout,” he told The Messenger. “And we know that with more time, it's going to be easier for me to reach people on that side of the county as well.”