Lots of cash. First in the polls. California’s Senate race is Adam Schiff’s to lose

The congressman, known for his critiques of Trump, has out-raised and out-spent his opponents in a closely-matched race

Adam Schiff looked like a front-runner when he first announced he was running for the US Senate more than a year ago, and he hasn't stopped looking like one since.

The California congressman from Los Angeles, best known for his withering critiques of Donald Trump and the threat the former president poses to US democracy, hasn't always been able to match the charisma of his two leading Democratic rivals, Katie Porter and Barbara Lee. His continuing support for Israel's military offensive in Gaza, broadly in line with the Biden administration's, has created divisions among his constituents and opened up one of the few significant policy differences in the race.