Beto O’Rourke’s astronomical first-day fundraising returned to strong but terrestrial levels following the launch of his presidential campaign, with the Texas Democrat announcing today that he raised $9.4 million in the first fundraising quarter of the year.
The sum includes the field-topping $6.1 million that O’Rourke raised in his campaign’s first 24 hours and the more than $1 million he posted this past weekend — when O’Rourke held a series of highly publicized kickoff rallies in Texas.
O’Rourke’s haul for the first quarter of 2019 remains relatively robust, given that he was a candidate for only 18 days, a small part of the fundraising period.
Still, Sen. Kamala Harris of California announced today that she had raised $12 million in the first quarter, and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont raised more than $18 million.
Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Ind., said he collected more than $7 million.
O’Rourke’s campaign said it received 218,000 contributions, that 98 percent of the contributions were for less than $200 and that the average donation was $43.
The campaign also said the majority of its donors had not given to the former Texas congressman during a Texas Senate campaign in which he raised more than $80 million.
Teachers were the top contributors by occupation, the campaign said.
O’Rourke’s team argued he is the ‘highest per-day raising candidate in the Democratic primary.’
‘In just 18 days, people in every state and from every walk of life have organized in homes, contributed a few bucks online and united together to show that the power of people is far greater than the PACs, corporations and special interest that have captured, corrupted and corroded our democracy for far too long,’ O’Rourke said in a statement.
DEMOCRATIC HOPEFULS’ CASH SO FAR IN 2019:
- Bernie Sanders: $18.2 million
- Kamala Harris: $12 million
- Beto O’Rourke: $9.4 million
- Pete Buttigieg: $7 million
- Andrew Yang: $1.7 million
The first quarter numbers – an important marker for a candidate’s strength among supporters and in their own campaign organizational abilities – have been trickling in for the Democratic contenders.
Looking at how much each candidate raised in the first quarter divided by how long they’ve been in the race found that Sanders averaged $444,000 a day; Harris $171,000 a day; and Buttigieg $103,000 a day.
Not all the Democratic presidential contenders have released their first quarter numbers.
President Trump has already raised more than $100 million toward his re-election bid.