Ramaswamy seeds presidential campaign with more than $10 million of his own cash

Republican businessman Vivek Ramaswamy gave his presidential campaign about $10.5 million as he looks to break onto the political scene as a first-time candidate.

New campaign finance reports filed over the weekend show Ramaswamy's personal fortune making up the vast majority of the money he raised in the first three months of 2023. He loaned his campaign $10.25 million and contributed another $297,250, largely in in-kind donations during his "testing the waters" phase.

On top of that money, his campaign raised another $1.16 million in contributions.

His campaign spent about $2 million from January through March, with digital media placement and related expenses making up about half of that total.

New candidates, especially those from outside the world of politics, typically need significant resources to spin up their own small-donor base, which makes Ramaswamy's deep pockets a big asset to his campaign.

And while the Republican National Committee hasn't released how candidates will qualify for its first presidential debate in July, it's possible Republicans could require candidates to hit certain donation requirements, like Democrats did last cycle.