Warren’s tech donations, Harris’ polling enjoy a bounce
There are 229 days remaining until California’s presidential primary. This week, we take a look at the presidential candidates’ latest fundraising reports, Elizabeth Warren’s tech money and a new poll showing Kamala Harris back in front in California.
Why Warren is winning tech money
Warren’s plan to break up the country’s biggest tech companies hasn’t stopped employees of those companies from bankrolling her campaign.
The Massachusetts senator came in second among the Democratic presidential candidates in donations from employees of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Google’s parent company Alphabet in the past three months, fundraising reports released Monday night showed. And she led the field in donations from people who listed their occupation as “software engineer” or “programmer” — a sign that her message of fighting corporate power is resonating among the tech industry’s rank and file.
Warren trailed only Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg in total donations from work
ers at the big four tech companies, raising about $102,000 to Buttigieg’s $124,000 from April to the end of June. She took in $211,000 overall from software engineers, just above Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ $210,000, according to a Bay Area News Group analysis. Only donations from people who gave more than $200 were counted, as campaigns aren’t required to report smaller donations individually.
The numbers continue a similar trend from the first fundraising quarter of the year, when Warren came in third among employees of the big tech companies and second among software engineers and programmers, a surprise given her well-publicized criticism of what she says is a monopoly among large tech companies.
Since then, Warren’s proposal to split the largest companies apart — in
to promote competition and reduce the tech giants’ power — has caught on in Democratic circles, with top candidates such as Sanders endorsing the idea and plenty of others, including Buttigieg, saying they’d consider it.
Supporters argue it would give tech startups more room to grow without being crushed or sucked up by the 800-pound gorillas of the industry.
Harris leapfrogs Joe Biden in new California poll
Harris has surged into the top spot in the California Democratic primary, according to the first survey conducted by a major polling organization in the state since last month’s debate. But the race is still close, with several other candidates within the margin of error, it found.
Harris won 23% of support among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents in the state, the poll released Wednesday by Quinnipiac University
found. She was followed by former Vice President Joe Biden with 21%, Sanders with 18% and Warren with 16%. Buttigieg, meanwhile, clocked in fifth at only 3% — a disappointing showing and a reminder that money doesn’t necessarily translate into popular support.
The poll found that Harris was in an even larger lead — with 28% support — among respondents who had been paying a lot of attention to the race.
It’s a good sign for Harris, who was mired below the 15% cutoff necessary to win any statewide delegates in California in another Los Angeles Times poll just a month ago.
And it comes as she has seen a national bounce following her strong debate performance taking on Biden.
Whether Harris’ rise is temporary or not could be determined by the next two-night debate on July 30-31. It will feature 19 of the same candidates as the first debate, with Montana Gov. Steve Bullock replacing East Bay Rep. Eric
Swalwell, who dropped out of the race.
CNN will air a televised, NBA draft-style lottery today to determine which candidates will appear on which night.
The Quinnipiac poll was conducted July 10-15 and surveyed 519 Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, with a margin of error of plus and minus 5.7 percentage points.
Buttigieg, not Harris, leads California money race, figures show
Buttigieg raised more money from large-dollar donors in California during the past three months than Harris in her home state, fundraising reports released Monday night showed, with a flood of
cash from Silicon Valley and Hollywood propelling him to the front of the presidential pack.
The Indiana mayor raised $3.75 million from April to the end of June from Californians who gave his campaign more than $200, compared with $3.18 million taken in by Harris.
Campaigns aren’t required to report smaller donations individually, but Buttigieg also pulled in more than double the amount Harris did from lower-dollar contributions nationwide.
It’s a remarkable achievement by a mayor of a small Midwestern city who just a few months ago was a virtual unknown in California — and a sign of the excitement his campaign has been able to generate among the Golden State elite.
The numbers also could be worrying for Harris supporters, although the senator saw a big spike in the last days of the fundraising period after her breakout debate performance.
Buttigieg was followed in California by Harris, Biden, Warren and Sanders, with the same five candidates forming the top tier in the money race nationally as well.
The mayor also raised the most from large-dollar donors in the Bay Area, a total of $1.6 million, according to a Bay Area News Group analysis.