Earlier this week, federal candidates filed their Q2 fundraising numbers with the FEC. In today’s edition of The Political Edge, we bring you a roundup of some of the key takeaways.
Presidential Q2 Takeaways
President Donald Trump absolutely crushed the large Democratic field in fundraising in Q2, bringing in a whopping $68 million (through his campaign and the two joint fundraising committees). Among the 2020 Democrats, Mayor Pete Buttigieg brought in the most, raising $24.9M from April through June, followed by former Vice President Joe Biden who raised $22M. Sen. Bernie Sanders raised $18M and ended up netting $25.7M by transferring money from other campaign accounts. Below are several bits of analysis worth knowing:
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Per Bloomberg: “Collectively, the top five Democratic candidates raised $96 million. Overall, the 22 campaigns brought in $131.6 million in the second quarter, topping Trump and the RNC. That figure includes millions given to candidates with little chance of winning the nomination.”
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The Washington Post notes: “Five Democratic candidates each raised more than $10 million in the second quarter: South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg ($24.9 million); former vice president Joe Biden ($22 million); Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts ($19.2 million); Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont ($18 million); and Sen. Kamala D. Harris of California ($11.8 million). Then, there was a sharp drop. After Harris, the next top raiser was Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, who brought in $4.6 million — roughly one-third of Harris’s haul. The rest of the 16 candidates each raised less than $4 million toward their presidential campaigns.”
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Per The New York Times: “Mayor Pete Buttigieg more than tripled his fund-raising from the first quarter, as did Senator Elizabeth Warren. Senators Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris raised about the same as in the first quarter.”
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Reuters provided some insight as to where candidates are spending their money: “Former Vice President Joe Biden invested the most heavily in digital advertising, spending $3.5 million on online ads in his first two months in the race, according to disclosures his campaign filed on Monday. U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders was a close second, spending $3.4 million this year. U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris each spent about $2 million on digital advertising. Warren outpaced her rivals on building out a staff. She spent $3.8 million on staffing in the first half of the year – more than doubling the size of her payroll from the first quarter to the second. Sanders was not far behind, spending $3 million so far this year on payroll. Biden spent $1.8 million on payroll so far this year – a hefty sum since he launched his campaign months after most of his rivals. Harris spent $1.9 million on salary.”
Below are a few of our stray observations:
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Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke, who was once viewed as a top 2020 contender, has seen his campaign fall completely flat. After raising $9.4 million in the first 18 days of his campaign, the Texas Democrat only raised $3.6 million in the second quarter. As CNN noted, O’Rourke also spent far more than he took in, plowing more than $5.3 million into his political operation. With such dismal numbers, it’s hard to see how O’Rourke will be able to make any headway in the polls as we move into the fall.
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Although he came in 13th place in total raised, former Housing Secretary Julián Castro had the largest percentage of contributions come from those giving $200 or less. According to his campaign, 74.3 percent of all Castro’s money came from small-dollar donors in the second quarter, followed by self-help author Marianne Williamson (70.5 percent). Of the major candidates, Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren received the most from small donations; Sanders got 69.6 percent of his contributions from small donations while Warren received 66.5 percent.
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Former Rep. John Delaney from Maryland is widely viewed as a longshot candidate. Despite polling at (or below) one percent, Delaney hasn’t shied away from spending money on his presidential pipedream and has loaned his campaign $24 million. He also had the highest burn rate of the 2020 candidates last quarter. Delaney’s burn rate, which shows how much a campaign spent relative to its fund-raising, was an eyepopping 2 percent.