Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters has become a recurring target in the president’s campaign speeches and tweets, derided as “Crazy Maxine.” | Amy Harris/Invision/AP Elections GOP long-shot rakes in cash from Maxine Waters haters

Rep. Maxine Waters has done more than energize liberals with her unrestrained attacks on Donald Trump — judging by the most recent fundraising numbers, she’s also animated the opposition.

Republican Omar Navarro, Waters’ longshot opponent in her solidly Democratic, Los Angeles-based seat, pulled in more than $450,000 in the third quarter — a testament to his opponent’s national profile as a leading Trump antagonist.


Illustrating that dynamic, many of the donations to Navarro flowed in from around the country, with people as far away as Florida and Rhode Island sending small increments to Navarro’s campaign.

“There’s a lot of people across the country that are just unhappy with the rhetoric Maxine Waters is using,” Navarro said in an interview. “They’re becoming angry. They’re not happy she’s trying to impeach the president.”

Waters’ district, on the other hand, is as safely Democratic as any seat on the map — there are more than four times as many registered Democrats as Republicans.

Morning Score newsletter Your guide to the permanent campaign — weekday mornings, in your inbox. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

In the 2016 all-party primary in June, Waters won up nearly three-quarters of the vote, with around 14 percent going to Navarro — a poor omen for the challenger.

To put Navarro’s haul in context: he more than doubled Waters’ $193,000 haul from July through September, and raised around the same amount as a pair of endangered California Republican incumbents, Reps. Steve Knight and Dana Rohrabacher, whose districts are among a cluster of California seats that are seen by both parties as critical to control of the House.

While Republican groups have poured cash into the other California contests, Navarro has gotten nothing from party organizations beyond $250 from a local group. He hasn’t released any television ads, though he said spots are forthcoming.

A representative of Waters’ campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

As Waters has gained attention for regularly assailing Trump and encouraging supporters to protest White House officials when they appear in public, the president has returned fire. The California congresswoman has become a recurring target in the president’s campaign speeches and tweets, derided as “Crazy Maxine.”

The fundraising numbers for Navarro were a rare bright spot for California Republicans, who were largely outraised by Democratic challengers in competitive districts. Democrats running for office in targeted contests announced tens of millions of dollars in third-quarter donations — in multiple cases shattering single-quarter records.