Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) raised $9.4 million in his first 18 days in the presidential campaign, an impressive sum but a fundraising rate that may be hard to sustain going forward.
That haul puts O’Rourke in the top tier of presidential campaign fundraising, and on a per-day basis puts him ahead of the rest of the field, at over a half-million dollars a day. But it includes almost $6 million in O’Rourke’s first day as a candidate, generally a top fundraising day for campaigns and one that can be hard to recreate later. O’Rourke’s campaign didn’t release how many individual donors made contributions.
But O’Rourke’s average $48 donation means he can keep coming back to his huge network of online supporters time and again — the same method that he used to set Senate fundraising records in his 2018 bid against Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).
“Not only is this a sign of our grassroots strength during the first two weeks of our campaign but it is a sign of what’s possible when you put your full trust in the people of this country,” O’Rourke said in a statement.
O’Rourke’s total fundraising haul puts him currently behind only Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Kamala Harris (D-CA), who raised $18.2 million and $12 million respectively for the race. South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D) raised $7 million since he entered the race, a strong showing for a candidate who began the campaign with little name recognition. The other candidates haven’t put their first-quarter fundraising toplines out yet, a sign that they’re not likely to impress.
O’Rourke’s campaign has averaged $522,000 a day, Sanders’ has averaged $444,000 a day, Harris averaged $171,000 a day, and Buttigieg averaged $103,000 a day.
I want to see the averages of their daily haul after the first 24 hours of their candidacy.
I mean, Mayor Pete raised 7 million in the first quarter, and he sure as hell didn’t have a $6 million dollar first day. Harris got 1.5 million on her first day, and has raised over $10 million since then.
So I’m decidedly unimpressed with Beto’s numbers here…
$9.4 million of wasted money to support an an uber-rich unemployed white man’s grifting as he pretends to be qualified to be President.
So you’re in the tank for Biden, then.
I actually like Elizabeth Warren at this point. She actually beat an incumbent Republican when she ran for the Senate!
Biden is at least qualified by his experience to do the job as President. O’Rourke is not qualified at all.
She did.
On the other hand he was an idiot who had come to power in a fluke victory against an “unlikeable woman.”
Wait –