Kamala gets $2M bump post-debate
Buttigieg holds $2,800-a-ticket fundraiser in Provincetown
U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris raised nearly $12 million in the second quarter of her presidential bid — an amount roughly equal to her firstquarter fundraising haul despite a breakout performance in last month’s debates.
The California senator leapfrogged in the polls following her takedown of former Vice President Joe Biden over his record on race, vaulting past top-tier candidates U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Berrnie Sanders to finish second in several surveys. Her debate performance fueled $2 million in online contributions in 24 hours, according to her campaign.
Harris’ announcement Friday of a nearly $12 million haul puts her far ahead of lower-tier candidates like U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado, who raised $2.8 million since announcing his bid May 2, and Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, who raised $2 million since entering the race May 14.
But it leaves her well behind other top candidates like Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., who leads so far with $24.8 million; Biden, who raised $21.5 million; and Sanders, who brought in $18 million.
Harris has raised $23 million overall since launching her campaign Jan. 21, her campaign said. More than 279,000 people contributed this past quarter, nearly 150,000 of whom were new donors, with an average contribution of $39. She raised $7 million online, with an average contribution of $24.
In the first quarter, Harris raised $12 million from more than 218,000 individual contributions. She raised more than $6 million online with an average donation of $28.
“The momentum Kamala Harris is seeing right now is buoyed by hundreds of thousands of grassroots supporters,” said Juan Rodriguez, Harris’ campaign manager. “These resources will help expand Kamala’s growing strength in this primary and put her position to win the Democratic nomination.”
Buttigieg has found success with fundraisers in Massachusetts, returning for another Friday in Provincetown — tickets for which reportedly went for $2,800 a pop. Buttigieg gained 230,000 new donors in the second quarter, with more than 400,000 donors overall and an average contribution of $47.42, his campaign said.
Biden, the front-runner who formally launched his campaign April 25, reached $21.5 million with the aid of more than 256,000 donors who made over 436,000 contributions at an average of $49, his campaign said.
After a lackluster debate performance, Biden said Friday on CNN, “I was prepared for them to come after me, but I wasn’t prepared for the person coming at me the way she came at me.” While Harris took on Biden’s 1970s stances on busing, the former vice president said he’s “not going to go there” with his Democratic rivals’ pasts.
Biden was also dismissive of the Democratic Party’s progressive left, including U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the push for “Medicare for All.”
“I think Ocasio-Cortez is a brilliant, bright woman, but she won a primary. In the general election fights, who won? Mainstream Democrats who are very progressive on social issues and very strong on education and health care,” Biden said.
Sanders defended OcasioCortez, tweeting, “I’m proud to be working with @AOC and so many other Democrats to pass Medicare for All, debt free college and a Green New Deal.”
Ocasio-Cortez responded, “Thank you, @SenSanders. It’s an honor to work alongside you and the millions of other people fighting for education, healthcare, and a living wage as rights.”
Biden also called President Trump a “bully,” saying, “He’s the bully that used to make fun when I was a kid that I stutter, and I’d smack him in the mouth.”
Trump hit back at Biden over what he called the “Obama-Biden mess” with North Korea and said, “I don’t think I’m a bully at all.”