Berman reports big fundraising totals for hot congressional race

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Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Valley Village) said Tuesday that his campaign raised more than $1 million in the previous quarter for his already-expensive contest with fellow Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman of Sherman Oaks.

Sherman, placed by last year’s redrawing of political maps into the same San Fernando Valley congressional district (the 30th) as Berman, started the race well ahead in fundraising. Last summer, he reported having nearly $3.7 million on hand to Berman’s $1.5 million, according to documents filed then with the Federal Election Commission.

But Berman has worked feverishly to try to catch up since the draft version of the new maps was released in June. His campaign said he brought in more than $2.3 million in seven months.

It’s another five months until the June primary. If both Sherman and Berman end up in the November runoff (which could happen under the state’s new “top-two” elections system), they’ll be raising money and duking it out for an additional five months after the first round. So pundits who are saying this race could go on record as the costliest House contest in history could very well see their prediction come true.

Berman said in a statement that he was “ incredibly proud and humbled by the level of support and faith people have put in my work—and I am truly grateful for the generous encouragement I have received in this campaign.”

The Sherman campaign could not be immediately reached for comment.

Quarterly reports aren’t due at the FEC until Jan. 31, but some campaigns are releasing some of their numbers early if they believe their fundraising is strong enough to reflect favorably on their candidate.

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--Jean Merl in Los Angeles and Richard Simon in Washington