Here’s how Elizabeth Warren’s first-quarter fundraising haul compares with other 2020 candidates
"I won’t sugarcoat it."
Elizabeth Warren’s campaign has always said they wouldn’t be able to match the fundraising figures of some of the other Democrats running for president in 2020.
The Massachusetts senator has pledged to run a “different type of campaign,” renouncing big-money fundraisers, in addition to her other campaign finance pledges, to spend more time with “voters, grassroots donors, and volunteers.”
On Wednesday, we got a look at the early results of that strategy.
Warren’s raised “more than $6 million” from 135,000 individual donors who made a total 213,000 separate donations, her campaign manager, Roger Lau, announced in an email to supporters Wednesday afternoon. The average donation was $28, Lau said.
“We’re in good shape, and we’re excited to be able to keep up the fight,” he said.
According to Lau, the campaign raised more than $1.4 million during the final week of March, surpassing their goal of 35,000 donations by more than 15,000. In a vacuum, the totals were good news. However, Lau conceded that it was not as much as some of the other Democrats in the crowded field.
“I won’t sugarcoat it: We were outraised by some other candidates in the presidential primary this first quarter,” he said.
Warren’s total haul from the first three months of 2019 trails several other top-tier candidates — and was doubled and tripled by California Sen. Kamala Harris and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, respectively.
In an apparent allusion to Harris, who raised $12 million from 138,000 donors, Lau made a point of noting that “one of the other candidates who had more or less the same number of donations raised 55% more money because of big-dollar contributions.”
The same argument, however, cannot be made about Sanders, who has also effectively sworn off high-dollar fundraisers. The second-time presidential candidate raised more than $18 million from more than 525,000 individual donors, according to his campaign. The average donation was $20 — even less than the $27 average donation that became a hallmark of his 2016 campaign.
All of the 2020 candidates are required to file first-quarter fundraising reports with the Federal Election Commission by next Monday, April 15. But here’s how the field stacks up so far, according to their self-reported totals:
Total raised: $18.2 million
Individual donors: 525,000
Average contribution: $20
Start date: Feb. 19
Total raised: $12 million
Individual donors: 138,000
Average contribution: $55
Start date: Jan. 21
Total raised: $9.4 million
Individual donors: Not released
Average contribution: $43
Start date: March 14
Total raised: $7 million
Individual donors: 158,550
Average contribution: $36.35
Start date: Jan. 23
Elizabeth Warren
Total raised: $6 million
Individual donors: 135,000
Average contribution: $28
Campaign launch date: Dec. 31, 2018
Total raised: $5.2 million
Individual donors: Nearly 100,000
Average “online” contribution: $40
Campaign launch date: Feb. 11
Total raised: $5 million
Individual donors: Not released
Average “online” contribution: $34
Start date: Feb. 1
Total raised: $1.7 million
Individual donors: 80,000
Average contribution: $17.92
Start date: Jan. 31
