San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
TRUMP, DESANTIS LEAD IN GOP FUNDRAISING AS PENCE, OTHERS LAG
Biden’s haul strongly outpaces that of challenger Kennedy
Donald Trump and Ron Desantis are dominating the fight for campaign cash in the Republican presidential contest, according to federal filings made public Saturday. While some struggled, like former Vice President Mike Pence, others reported significant hauls that help ensure the GOP’S 2024 primary will be crowded for the foreseeable future.
On the Democratic side, President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign has quickly amassed a sizeable fortune. But longshot Democratic primary opponent Robert Kennedy Jr. also raised enough to ensure he won’t be ignored.
Overall, the 2024 presidential class’s second-quarter filings with the Federal Election Commission, covering the period between April 1 and June 30, leave unanswered several questions. For example, the total number of individual donors for each campaign, a figure tied directly to GOP debate participation, won’t be known until the end of the month.
Still, the federal reports offer several insights six months before the first primary votes are cast. Here are some key takeaways:
Trump, Desantis in own tier
While Trump is leading most polls, he and Desantis are in a tier of their own on the fundraising front.
Trump’s team recently confirmed that his joint fundraising operation — which splits money between Trump’s campaign and the Save America PAC — received $35 million in the second quarter. The campaign did not say how much of that $35 million went to the campaign and how much went to Save America, which has covered non-campaign related expenses in the past, including Trump’s legal bills.
The average donation to Trump’s 2024 campaign now stands at $34, evidence, the campaign said, of his grassroots backing.
Earlier in the week, Desantis announced raising $20 million for the six weeks he was in the race. The Florida governor’s allied super PAC, which is legally barred from coordinating with the campaign, said it raised a stunning $130 million since the committee launched in March. More than half of that came from a state-level political committee once controlled by Desantis.
Debate implications
The fundraising numbers carry additional significance because they are tied directly to the GOP’S first presidential debate next month.
Beyond a 1 percent polling threshold, the Republican National Committee has announced that candidates must have a minimum of 40,000 unique donors, with at least 200 unique donors per state or territory, in 20 states and territories.
Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and conservative businessman Vivek Ramaswamy announced in recent days they had reached the 40,000 donor threshold. Pence has yet to make such an announcement.
Saturday’s federal filings do not provide a complete accounting of such figures, which won’t be available until the end of the month.
Overall, Haley’s campaign raised $7.3 million in the second quarter and ended June with $9.3 million in the bank. That’s as the main pro-haley super PAC claimed $17 million cash on hand.
Scott raised $6.1 million since announcing his campaign in May. And Ramaswamy, a 37-year-old entrepreneur, raised more than $7.7 million in the quarter, including lending his campaign $5 million from his own personal fortune. He finished the quarter with more than $9 million on hand.
Christie, in the race for just 25 days of the second quarter, raised $1.65 million through his campaign and reported nearly $1.6 million in the bank as of June 30.
Pence raised less than $1.2 million and finished the quarter with nearly $1.1 million in the bank, according to his federal filing.
Biden strong, but not alone
Biden and the Democratic National Committee have raised more than $72 million for his re-election in the 10 weeks since he announced his 2024 candidacy.
The president’s fundraising total includes donations to his campaign and to a network of joint fundraising arrangements with the national and state parties.
The Biden campaign said the total came from nearly 400,000 donors, and that 97 percent of donations were under $200 and more than 30 percent of donors had not given to Biden in 2020.
The incumbent president faces only token opposition in the Democratic Party’s nomination contest, although one of his opponents, Kennedy, has raised enough money to ensure he won’t be ignored completely.
Kennedy’s campaign raised nearly $6.4 million for the quarter and had $4.5 million in the bank as of June 30. A pro-kennedy super PAC, meanwhile, said it has raised more than $10 million so far.