Warren flexes grassroots muscle, raises $19.1 million in Q2
PETERBOROUGH, NH- Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign on Monday announced it had raised $19.1 million in the second quarter of 2019, which spanned April to June.
The fundraising total, which more than tripled the campaign’s first quarter results, was the latest indication of a notable surge in support for the Massachusetts senator in recent months.
The fundraising total placed Warren in third place among Democrats who have reported their second quarter fundraising numbers, behind South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who reported raising $24.8 million, and former Vice President Joe Biden, who brought in $21.5 million. But Warren’s haul eclipsed that of progressive rival Bernie Sanders, who brought in $18.1 million during the same period.
Another top-tier Democratic rival, Kamala Harris, reported raising $12 million in the second quarter.
Warren announced early in her campaign that she would eschew traditional fundraising events altogether and focus her efforts on grassroots and online donations. Most other 2020 contenders have spent significant time on the traditional campaign finance circuit, with the exception of Sanders who is also relying on grassroots efforts.
The campaign says they now have 384,000 donors, with an average gift of just $28.
“You’re making it possible to build a presidential campaign without catering to wealthy donors— with no closed-door fundraisers, no Super PACs, and no money from Washington lobbyists, corporate PACs, or, for that matter, PACs of any kind,” Campaign Manager Roger Lau said in an email to supporters.
The Warren campaign finished the quarter with $19.7 million cash on hand. It had transferred $10.4 million from Warren’s Senate account earlier this year.
The Warren campaign has significant overhead, with a much larger paid staff in both Iowa and New Hampshire than her 2020 rivals. The campaign boasts over 300 staffers across the country, with 60% of those in the four first primary and caucusing states. Her relatively paltry $6 million fundraising total in the first quarter had some supporters concerned about paying for the ground game her campaign envisioned.
Warren has experienced a surge in support in recent polling, in early states and nationally, landing her in a close third or fourth place in most surveys. She was widely seen to have been among the top performers in the first round of debates. The campaign declined to share how much fundraising came from a post-debate bump.