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The Political Edge: 2020 Fundraising Battles Begin

With 14 Democrats (currently) running for president, candidates are scrambling to hire staff, scale their operations, and carve out a path to the nomination. Integral to all of this is fundraising – without financial resources, candidates will find it challenging to get their message out. As more and more Democrats are taking pledges to reject corporate PAC money, the focus is turning to small-dollar fundraising as a way to raise cash.

Creating a network of grassroots support has several strategic purposes. First, in order for a Democrat to qualify for the primary debates, he or she must either earn at least 1 percent support in a series of public polls of Democratic voters or attract 65,000 individual donors from 20 different states. More importantly, however, the volume of small donations is often a measure of enthusiasm about a particular candidate.

This week, The Political Edge takes a look at how small-dollar fundraising has become an integral part of political campaigns and dives into some recent fundraising developments in the presidential race.

Small-Dollar Fundraising Comparisons

A recent article from Roll Call’s Kate Ackley argued that small-dollar donors could hold the balance in the 2020 election. Research shows that small contributions surged in the 2018 elections for competitive House and Senate races, with more than $200 million going to those races in small increments. Looking at data from the Center for Responsive Politics, Ackley found several pieces of information about how campaigns are adapting to the small-dollar trend.

  • In 2016, about 25% of President Donald Trump’s political money came from donors giving less than $200. His reelection campaign, however, has raised far more from small dollar donors. According to FEC reports, he has raised $18.7 million (67.5%) from small contributors compared to about $9 million raised from individual donations of $200 or more.

  • For comparison, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez brought in about 60 percent of her 2018 campaign’s $2.1 million in little installments. Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) collected almost half of his $79 million Senate haul in 2018 from small donations.

  • Last cycle, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) were the top two Senate recipients of small-dollar donations as a percentage of their overall donations. Sanders raised 75% in small contributions, while Warren brought in more than 55% from small donations.

2020 Presidential Hauls

On Monday, Beto O’Rourke announced that he had raised a whopping $6.1 million in the first 24 hours of his campaign. AR Intel broke down how O’Rourke’s numbers stacked up against the rest of the Democratic field.

  • Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) raised $6.1M in online donations during his campaign’s first 24 hours. According to the candidate, he had “more than 128,000 unique contributions” and an average donation size of $47.

  • Bernie Sanders (I-VT) raised $5.9 million in the first 24 hours after his presidential announcement with an average donation of less than $27.

  • Kamala Harris (D-CA) raised $1.5M in her first 24 hours.

  • John Hickenlooper (D-CO) raised more than $1M in less than 48 hours.

  • Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) raised more than $1M in the 48 hours after launching her campaign.

  • Jay Inslee (D-WA) raised $1M in his campaign’s first three days.

  • Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) did not formally announce how much she raised. However, according to fundraising figures reported by ActBlue, she pulled in at least $300,000 from 8,000 donors on her first day.

Comparing Beto’s Numbers

To put O’Rourke’s $6.1M 24-hour haul into perspective, Roll Call’s Nathan Gonzalez looked back at some competitive races from the last 20 years to see how they stack up.

  • “In 2000, Democratic Gov. Thomas R. Carper and Republican Sen. William V. Roth Jr. combined to spend $7 million for the entire cycle in a highly competitive Senate race in Delaware that saw the five-term incumbent defeated.”

  • “Former Democratic Gov. Tony Knowles ($5.8 million) and Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski ($5.4 million) each spent on their entire Senate campaigns in Alaska in 2004.”

  • “O’Rourke’s hall is also greater than what GOP Sen. Susan Collins ($4 million) and Democrat Chellie Pingree ($3.7 million) spent in their 2002 matchup in Maine. That same cycle, Republican Sen. Gordon H. Smith needed $5.5 million to get re-elected in Oregon.”

  • Gonzalez “could only find two House races in which both nominees combined to spend more that cycle than O’Rourke raised in 24 hours: Texas’ 32nd District (where Democratic Rep. Martin Frost and GOP Rep. Pete Sessions combined to spend $9.2 million in a redrawn district) and Pennsylvania’s 13th District (where Democrat Allyson Y. Schwartz and Republican Melissa Brown combined to spend $6.5 million).”

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