Emily’s List, a Democratic political action committee (PAC) dedicated to electing women who support abortion rights, has found itself under scrutiny after its significant independent expenditure in support of Joanna Weiss in the Democratic primary for California’s 47th Congressional District failed to deliver the desired outcome.
Despite spending over $813,000 on television and online ads for Weiss, she finished third in the race, behind Democratic state Sen. Dave Min and Republican Scott Baugh. This has led to questions about the effectiveness of Emily’s List’s spending decisions and whether the funds could have been better allocated to other races with stronger candidates.
Emily’s List typically deploys its resources later in election cycles and has a history of backing candidates in competitive races. However, the group’s heavy investment in Weiss’s campaign has drawn criticism, with some Democratic leaders suggesting that the funds could have been better allocated to other races with stronger candidates.
The 47th Congressional District is one of the hottest races in the country, with both Democrats and Republicans vying for control. The coastal district, which runs from Seal Beach to Laguna Beach and inland to Costa Mesa and Irvine, is currently represented by Rep. Katie Porter (D-Irvine), who is leaving Congress in January.
Porter’s decision to give up her House seat and run for the Senate, a bid that fell short in the March 5 primary, kicked off a flurry of campaigns to replace her in Washington.
Before Weiss announced her candidacy, Emily’s List approached her to ask if she was interested in running, said Mike McLaughlin, a senior advisor to the Weiss campaign. Former Rep. Harley Rouda and Min had both announced they would run, and Emily’s List was “very invested in trying to keep a women in that seat,” McLaughlin said.
By then, Weiss had already decided she would run, he said. Emily’s List did not promise to fund Weiss’ campaign, McLaughlin said. But, he said, the group signaled that it would watch to see if Weiss merited an endorsement, and if she had the kind of fundraising chops needed to win in a battleground House district.
Then the already competitive race took several unexpected turns. Rouda suffered a brain injury after a fall and dropped out of the race last April. In May, Min was arrested for driving under the influence in Sacramento and pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor. In June, Emily’s List endorsed Weiss, saying that her history as “a community organizer, lawyer, and advocate for women is unparalleled.”
By election day, Weiss had raised more than $2 million from individual contributions — more than any other non-incumbent woman running for Congress in the U.S., McLaughlin said. (That figure does not include the $225,000 Weiss loaned her campaign.)
“That is what led Emily’s List to then decide to make an investment,” McLaughlin said. “It was a competitive race, and she was doing her part to build a broad coalition of support.”
However, some Democratic leaders have questioned the effectiveness of Emily’s List’s spending. Jon Gould, the dean of the School of Social Ecology at UC Irvine, said that the group’s decision to spend over $827,000 in a week on television ads and mailers “had the feel that someone suddenly committed a lot of money at the last minute.”
The board of the Irvine Democrats, which backed Min, took the unusual step of writing to the president of Emily’s List, chiding the group for investing so heavily in Weiss. Their letter spelled out what the group saw as Weiss’ biggest problems, including her lack of experience as a candidate and her decision to send her children to private schools outside the district.
“Backing the flawed campaign of Ms. Weiss will harm the chances of electing a Democratic House majority in 2024,” the group wrote. They suggested that Emily’s List redirect the money to two other races in Orange County with strong Democratic women candidates.
This year is not the first time Min has been at odds with Emily’s List. During the bruising 2018 primary for California’s 45th Congressional District, Min ran against Porter in a crowded field to unseat then-Rep. Mimi Walters, a Republican. After Emily’s List endorsed Porter, the group’s super PAC spent more than $241,000 on ads and mailers to support her.
Min’s campaign then released an ad suggesting Porter, Walters and another candidate were being funded by “special interests.” In a voice-over, a narrator said: “Washington insiders have spent over $100,000 to elect Katie Porter.”
In a terse statement, the then-president of Emily’s List dismissed Min’s ad as “dishonest.” “In a year where we’re seeing a record number of women step up and run for office, it’s unfortunate that there are those who are trying to diminish our success,” Stephanie Schriock said. She called Min’s comments “disparaging” to more than 5 million supporters of Emily’s List, including many who lived in his district.
The 47th District wasn’t the only race in California where choices by Emily’s List rankled Democratic leaders. One Democratic consultant, who requested anonymity to speak frankly about an organization that works closely with Democratic campaigns, said the group has made “many weird decisions in California this year.”
State Sen. Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger) told The Times that the group had contacted her about running in the Central Valley’s 22nd Congressional District, hoping oust incumbent GOP Rep. David Valadao of Hanford. But Rudy Salas, a Democrat and a former member of the state Assembly, already had the backing of Washington’s Democratic leadership. Hurtado said she had weekly meetings with Emily’s List until it became clear the organization was not going to support her financially. She finished in a distant fourth place in the primary.
Emily’s List did not endorse a candidate in the 45th Congressional District in inland Orange County, represented by GOP Rep. Michelle Steele. Democrat Kim Nguyen-Penaloza, a Garden Grove councilmember and the daughter of Mexican and Vietnamese immigrants, finished third in the primary, losing by 367 votes to Democrat Derek Tran.
In the 40th Congressional District, an inland suburban district mostly in Orange County, Emily’s List endorsed Allyson Muñiz Damikolas in her bid to unseat GOP Rep. Young Kim. The endorsement helped Damikolas bring in more money, but the group did not spend a significant amount to help her. She finished a distant third behind Kim and Democrat Joe Kerr, a retired firefighter.
The results of both those races, Gould said, suggest that Emily’s List “probably made the right call.”
