With the deadline in the books for campaigns to report how much money they raised between April and the end of June, there’s now a clearer picture of which candidates are dominating in the money race. And while the deadline for outside groups to report their totals isn’t until the end of the month, many groups have made the size of their war chests public as well.
One headline: The 2016 campaigns and their associated outside groups have raised at least $385 million in the second quarter fundraising period. But at least two-thirds of that haul came from super PACs and other outside groups that can solicit unlimited donations.
And Super PACs and outside groups are playing an even bigger role in the Republican race, with nearly four in five dollars raised in GOP contest going to these outside groups ($229 million), versus the campaigns ($66 million).
When it comes to traditional campaign fundraising, Hillary Clinton leads the pack, having pulled in $47.5 million since announcing her presidential run. Other big campaign hauls include Bernie Sanders ($15.2 million), Jeb Bush ($11.4 million), Ted Cruz ($10 million, plus $4 million from the first quarter), and Marco Rubio ($8.9 million, plus a transfer of $3.2 million from his Senate account.)
But when super PACs and 501(c)4 groups are added to the equation, one candidate is dominating the boards. Jeb Bush’s superPAC, Right to Rise, announced that it brought in $103 million. Cruz’s series of outside groups, Keep the Promise, posted an estimated $37 million haul, while a pair of pro-Rubio groups raised almost $32 million.
Here’s how much each candidate can say their “supporters” raised – both between the campaigns and the outside groups. (in millions)
Another measure of the campaigns’ funds -– and their strategy -- is how much they are *spending* out of that fundraising haul. A campaign’s “burn rate” shows how frugal they’re being with everything from payroll, travel and printing costs to high-dollar consulting fees that they hope will reap dividends in the future.
Donald Trump has the highest burn rate, spending 74 percent of the $1.9 million he raised since announcing his bid in mid-June. Other candidates with high burn rates: Ben Carson and Rick Santorum.
