Fundraising for the 2020 elections: first quarter revenue

And he shows no signs of slowing down.

The $ 30.3 million campaign reported in the first three months of this year is Trump's largest fundraising quarter since entering the White House. Add to that the money available for the Republican National Committee and an affiliated financing operation. Team Trump said it began in April with more than $ 80 million in cash available at the bank, several months before the Iowa Democrats launched the process of nominating their party in February.

A long battle for democrats

The number of overcrowded and growing Democrat candidates faces a long wait for nomination.

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders of California, Kamala Harris, former Texas Congressman Beto O. Rourke and Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., Have not gone beside.

Many of the first competitors are struggling to compete for money.

Of the 16 Democrat candidates who filed their first quarter reports with the Federal Election Commission, half raised $ 3 million or less from donors in the first three months of the year. This includes New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, Washington Governor Jay Inslee, and former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro.

This is a sign that Democratic donors have not yet rallied behind the contenders, said Anthony Corrado, a campaign finance expert who teaches at Colby College in Maine. "It's a vast field of little known candidates."

Hey, big spenders

A host of candidates have used the remaining Senate funds to support their initial operations, but this could be a rapidly dwindling source of money.

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, for example, raised $ 6 million from donors during the fundraising quarter of January to March and spent almost all of her spending, more than $ 5.2 million. of dollars. But his massive war chest in the Senate allowed him to transfer $ 10.4 million to his presidential campaign.

She needs this cushion. The two-term senator known for her advocacy of consumer rights vowed to raise significant funds. But Warren also built a large campaign operation in the early states and already employs 170 people. Its main expense during the first quarter: $ 1.2 million staff, or nearly $ 1 per $ 4 spent.

Gillibrand also transferred a large sum, transferring $ 9.6 million from his Senate coffers.

She also spent a lot, spending $ 2.4 million in the first quarter, after raising only $ 3 million from donors.

Small dollar test

Sanders, who created a large fan base during his 2016 presidential campaign, is leading not only in overall fundraising, but also in the proportion of his money from small donors. The most recent figures show that 84% of Sanders' individual contributions came from donors who donated $ 200 or less to his campaign, providing him with key support at the grassroots level over the long term.

Second, the businessman Andrew Yang to 81%. Yang is leaning on the "Yang Gang", an enthusiastic group of online supporters who appreciate his idea of ​​giving Americans a universal income of $ 1,000 a month. And these small donors helped Yang reach the threshold of 65,000 donors for the first Democratic debates.

The new Democratic National Committee's criteria for debate – respecting voting thresholds or showing support from small donors – have reversed traditional fundraising, Corrado said. In previous campaigns, candidates ran to line up big donors and influential fundraisers who could use their parents, friends and associates to raise money.

In the 2020 competition, he said, "the first hurdle is not necessarily collecting as much money as possible, but to reach the donors, you have to qualify for the debate".

Money in the bank

At the dawn of the second quarter of 2019, Sanders finds itself in a dominant financial position with approximately $ 26.6 million of available liquidity for its 2020 committee, its Senate campaign committee and the remaining funds of its campaign 2016. More than 15.6 million dollars of this sum are waiting for his presidential campaign.

Warren has the second largest cashing with $ 11.2 million in his presidential campaign account, largely thanks to a $ 10.4 million transfer from his campaign account to the Senate and leaving just under $ 300 $ 000. Gillibrand also benefited from a major transfer of Senate funds, entering the second quarter with just under $ 10.2 million on his presidential campaign account and about $ 650,000 on his Senate account.

Sanders, Warren and Gillibrand had by far the most funds available in their Senate accounts to be transferred to the presidential campaign, but other candidates had accumulated substantial cash reserves thanks to the solid fundraising of the first quarter. Buttigieg, which raised just under $ 7.1 million, spent just over $ 685,000 in the quarter and has $ 6.4 million for the second quarter. ; Harris ended the quarter with just under $ 9 million in cash, just under $ 55,000 in his account in the Senate; O & # 39; Rourke finished with just over $ 6.8 million in cash. John Delaney ended the quarter with close to $ 10.6 million in cash, almost entirely because of contributions and loans to his campaign from his personal fortune. Julian Castro closed the quarter with just over $ 625,000 in cash, raising questions about the long-term sustainability of his White House bid.