We are now learning more about the money the candidates are bringing in and while it doesn’t necessarily correlate with the latest polls, it may still give some signs of what’s to come. Most of the leading Democratic presidential candidates have now reported their fundraising totals for the second quarter of 2019.
Axios reports these totals:
- Mayor Pete Buttigieg (South Bend IN) raised $24.8 million with more than 400,000 donors.
- Former Vice President Joe Biden raised $21.5 million with over 256,000 donors.
- Sen. Bernie Sanders (VT) raised $18 million with nearly 1 million donors.
- Sen. Kamala Harris (CA) raised nearly $12 million from 279,000 donors.
- Sen. Michael Bennet (CO) raised $2.8 million.
- Gov. Steve Bullock (MT) raised $2 million.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (MA) has not yet reported. But in the first quarter she raised only $6 million, well behind her top rivals. All candidates must report their totals by July 15th.
As for Biden leading polls, but not fundraising, the AP writes:
Some Democratic strategists anticipated a larger fundraising number from Biden, given the connections he forged during his years as vice president and as a long-serving U.S. senator. The fact that he lagged behind expectations — and Buttigieg — will likely deepen Democratic worries that the party could be in for a prolonged primary fight at a time when President Donald Trump is making his case to voters and his reelection effort posted a massive $105 million second-quarter haul.
And Biden may have actually helped Harris’ campaign with a late June bump or should we say Harris may have helped herself in her strong debate performance against the former Vice President. Politico writes:
The total about matches what Harris raised in the previous three months of her campaign and reflects the significance of a late fundraising push after a breakout debate performance in the final days of the fundraising period.
Harris raised $2 million just in the 24 hours after the first presidential debate last week, marking an upward turn in her campaign.
Harris’ second quarter total drew on donations from more than 279,000 people, including almost 150,000 new donors, her campaign said.