CLINTON CASHES IN KEY STATES
Democratic nominee outpaces Trump for battleground donors
Democrat Hillary Clinton, who has raced past Republican Donald Trump in the television and ground war for the presidency, also is harvesting more cash than her Republican rival from the states that could decide the election, a USA TODAY analysis of new campaign- finance reports shows.
The former secretary of State outraised Trump in 10 of the 11 most competitive states last month, according to the analysis. Trump edged Clinton in one state, Nevada.
The analysis examined July contributions from individuals who have donated more than $ 200 to the campaigns. July marked the best fundraising month for both candidates. Candidates do not have to disclose names and addresses of donors who contribute $ 200 or less.
Clinton collected more than $ 52 million for her campaign last month. Trump raised nearly $ 36.7 million. The candidates’ weekend filings with the Federal Election Commission show Clinton far outpacing Trump on spending as she poured millions last month into television advertising and maintaining a staff of more than 700 to Trump’s 82.
Clinton spent more than $ 38 million last month, not counting efforts on her behalf by the Democratic Party and aligned committees.
Trump, a real- estate magnate who has shunned building a traditional campaign operation, more than doubled his campaign spending to $ 18.5 million in July, but spent no money on television advertising last month or to build a ground operation, as Clinton and her allies blistered him on the airwaves.
Instead, $ 8.4 million — or nearly half — his outlay went to a San Antonio web design firm that has long done work for Trump- related enterprises. Trump campaign officials said Sunday that more than 90% of the money paid to the firm, Giles- Parscale, went to thirdparty vendors for services, such as digital ads to pull in campaign cash.
The campaign also plowed $ 1.8 million into hats, t- shirts, mugs and other campaign marketing products, the filings show.
“They have run the most untraditional campaign of all the major campaigns in modern history,” Austin Barbour, a Republican strategist based in Mississippi, said of Trump’s operation. “It served them well in the primary, but it hasn’t served them well in the general election.”
Recent polls show Clinton leading in several key battlegrounds, including Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio and New Hampshire.
USA TODAY’s analysis examined the 11 states deemed tossups or “leaning” Democratic or Republican in the non- partisan Cook Political Report’s latest presidential ratings. Clinton outraised Trump in four of the five tossup states: Florida, North Carolina, Iowa and Ohio. Trump had the advantage in the fifth, Nevada.
Clinton also had the fundraising edge in the other states examined: Michigan, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, all of which lean Democratic, and in the two traditionally red states that some independent political analysts believe could grow competitive in November: Arizona and Georgia.
The sources of campaign contributions don’t always align neatly with voting patterns. The third- largest source of cash to Trump last month was populous and donor- rich California, a Democratic stronghold. The red state of Texas ranked No. 4 on the tally of Clinton’s individual contributions last month.
But the new filings offer a snapshot of the candidates’ financial support in pivotal states. In some cases, Clinton’s advantage is narrow. She collected a little more than $ 262,000 last month from Arizona residents, outraising Trump by $ 43,000.
In Pennsylvania, however, she raised more than $ 642,000 last month, nearly three times the $ 216,000 Trump collected there in July from donors who gave more than $ 200, the analysis shows.
The Democratic presidential nominee and her allies have had a long head start on Trump in fundraising. Clinton, who has spent decades in public life, has a substantial network of people who are raising money on her behalf. On Saturday, she released a list of 871 “Hillblazers,” the individuals and couples who have raised at least $ 100,000 for the campaign since April 2015.
Trump, who largely spent his own money during the primary, did not begin assembling a team to raise campaign cash until the end of May and has relied heavily on the Republican National Committee for fundraising and operational help. He has not released a full list of his fundraisers.
He also has eschewed much traditional advertising, relying on his celebrity and media coverage for publicity. His spending last month with Giles- Parscale shows he’s investing more aggressively in digital advertising. On Friday, Trump began his first television advertising of the general election, beginning a $ 4.8 million buy in Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Florida.