With the 2020 presidential campaign season now shifting into full swing, fundraising totals for the various candidates over the first fiscal quarter have been released to the public by the Federal Election Commission.
President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign enjoyed strong fundraising in the first quarter, bringing in more funds than two of the Democratic Party’s top contenders — Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and former Texas Rep. Robert “Beto” O’Rourke — combined.
Campaign brings in over $30 million
President Trump’s campaign tallied more than $30 million raised in the first quarter of 2019, a total that is reportedly more than was raised by Sanders and O’Rourke combined.
Meanwhile, the Republican National Committee reportedly raised a total of $45 million over that same period. When those sums are combined, accumulated cash on hand is factored in, and expenses are deducted, the Republican re-election effort is standing strong with roughly $82 million available.
By way of comparison, President Barack Obama had only raised about $2 million at this same point in time ahead of the 2012 election cycle, far less than what Trump has garnered thus far.
Trump tops Sanders and O’Rourke combined
Five Thirty-Eight issued a detailed interactive report on all of the reported fundraising totals to give a better understanding of where the funds were coming from and what the totals really mean for the various candidates.
That outlet showed Sanders had raised roughly $20.7 million in the first quarter, while O’Rourke had raised about $9.4 million, for a combined total of $30.1 million, just shy of the reported $30.3 million hauled in by Trump.
Of the more than $20 million brought in by Sanders — nearly three-quarters of which came from small donors contributing less than $200 — the senator’s campaign only spent about $5 million during the first quarter, for a cash on hand total of around $15.7 million.
Of O’Rourke’s $9.4 million first-quarter total — of which roughly 59 percent came from small donors, just over 40 percent from large donors — about $2.5 million has been spent, leaving roughly $6.9 million in cash on hand.
O’Rourke outraised by several Democrat competitors
Though O’Rourke enjoyed and was propped up by plenty of friendly media coverage and support throughout much of the first quarter, he was actually outraised by several other Democrat contenders and was nearly matched by a relatively unknown newcomer to the race — Indiana’s South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg — who brought in just over $7 million, 64 percent from small donors, while also stealing away much of O’Rourke’s fawning media coverage.
Two top fundraisers among Democrats that are really unsurprising are Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren — $16.4 million — and California Sen. Kamala Harris — $13.2 million — though those totals weren’t buttressed by the increasingly important small donor contributions. Only about 25 percent of Warren’s total and 33 percent of Harris’ total came from small donors.
Somewhat surprising was the reported $12.4 million raised by New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and the $12.1 million raised by former Maryland Rep. John Delaney, though to be fair, more than 96 percent of Delany’s total came via self-funding.
Long fundraising road ahead
In total, Five Thirty-Eight reported that the entirety of the Democrat field of candidates raised upwards of $119.5 million collectively, as compared to the $30.3 raised by Trump.
However, given the unequal distribution of those funds among the more than a dozen primary Democratic candidates and considering the significant funds the RNC has made available to Trump’s campaign as mentioned above, the president by himself is standing on near-equal footing with the whole of the Democratic field.
To be sure, it is still early in the 2020 campaign season and fundraising totals for the individual Democrats are bound to fluctuate going forward as various candidates — and the donor funds offered to them — surge and/or fade away.
Meanwhile, President Trump will continue to raise a substantial level of funds while he waits for the circular firing squad that is the Democratic Party to whittle all of the candidates away until there is but one left, upon whom the accumulated war chest of the Republican president and his party will be unleashed.
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