Leitch funded by large-dollar donors
Kellie Leitch says she’s running against elites, but significantly more of the Conservative leadership candidate’s funding comes from large-dollar donors, compared with that of her chief financial rival, Maxime Bernier.
Ten per cent of Leitch’s money comes from donors giving $1,525, the legal maximum. A total of 4.5 per cent of Bernier’s donors gave $1,525.
Leitch, a former cabinet minister and pediatric orthopedic surgeon, is making anti-elitism a centrepiece of her campaign for the federal party leadership. After Donald Trump won the U.S. election, she sent out a fundraising email saying: “Tonight, our American cousins threw out the elites and elected Donald Trump as their next president. It’s an exciting message and one that we need delivered in Canada as well.”
By almost any financial metric however, Bernier has more populist support. Based on money raised by the candidates between May and September, he has nearly twice the number of donors, an average donation about half of Leitch’s, and, critically, he’s attracting four times the number of smalldollar donations. A total of 812 people donated less than $50 to Bernier. Only 195 donated under $50 to Leitch.
Bernier and Leitch are well ahead of other Conservative leadership candidates when it comes to fundraising. Bernier raised $427,508.72 from 2,056 donors between May and September. Leitch raised $450,421.56 from 1,145 donors. Third-place Michael Chong raised about half that, with $208,913.72 from 384 donors. Fourth-place Tony Clement, who got into the race late and who has now withdrawn, was at $20,080 from 26 donors.
Candidates are required to release their fundraising totals every quarter. The next release will cover October-December.
The contrast between Leitch and Bernier becomes clearer looking at the candidates’ average donations. During the Democratic primary in the U.S., Bernie Sanders said the average donation to his campaign was just $27. Sanders touted the $27 as an indication that he wasn’t getting money from a small group of wealthy people and so could be relied on to fight elite interests. Donald Trump made a similar argument, saying that the self-funding of his campaign combined with small-dollar donations meant he would take on the establishment.
While neither Bernier nor Leitch come close to Sanders’ average donation, there is a stark contrast between them. Bernier’s average donation is $207.93. Leitch’s is nearly double, at $393.38.
Another metric used to assess the popular support of a candidate is their proportion of small donors. Leitch has a healthy number of sub-$200 donors, with 54.3 per cent. Seventy-seven per cent of Bernier’s donors gave less than $200.