Pete Bttigieg Raised $24.8 in Second Quarter

  

 Pete after debate in Miami

By Thomas Kaplan

 Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., raised $24.8 million over the past three months, his campaign said on Monday, a head-turning total that is likely to be among the largest disclosed by any of the Democratic presidential candidates for the second quarter of the year.

Mr. Buttigieg’s haul, from more than 294,000 donors, is the clearest indicator yet of how a candidate who only months ago was little known among voters has become a formidable contender in the race for the Democratic nomination.

His strong fund-raising gives him the financial resources to build a robust campaign operation and compete with rivals who entered the race as far better-known figures, such as former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who is also expected to report a big fund-raising total for the quarter.

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Mr. Buttigieg had more than 230,000 new donors in the quarter, bringing his total number of donors during his presidential bid to more than 400,000, his campaign said. The average contribution over the course of his campaign has been $47.42, according to his team.

His campaign said it now had more than $22.6 million in cash on hand.

“This fundraising report shows that Pete’s message is resonating with Americans, and it’s proof that we are building an organization that can compete,” Mike Schmuhl, his campaign manager, said in an early-morning email to supporters announcing the fund-raising total.

Mr. Buttigieg’s total for the most recent quarter is more than three times the $7.1 million that he raised in the first quarter of 2019 — which itself was an attention-grabbing figure that offered early evidence that his candidacy was catching on.

His total in the first quarter ranked fourth in the Democratic field, behind Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, with $18.2 million; Senator Kamala Harris of California, with $12 million; and former Representative Beto O’Rourke of Texas, with $9.4 million. (Mr. Biden had not yet entered the race.)

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Mr. Buttigieg is the first Democratic candidate to announce his fund-raising total for the second quarter. Other candidates will most likely publicize their numbers in the coming days, and all of them are required to report their fund-raising to the Federal Election Commission by July 15. 

Like other campaigns, Mr. Buttigieg’s campaign emailed supporters on Sunday seeking donations and emphasizing the deadline for the end of the quarter, which ran from April through June.

“There are countless primary voters who are leaning our way but are waiting to see us demonstrate that we can actually fund and build an organization before they commit their support,” Mr. Buttigieg wrote in one email.

Mr. Buttigieg’s haul for the quarter came from traditional fund-raising events with wealthy donors, low-dollar “grass-roots” fund-raisers and online donations. He has been notably aggressive in raising money on the traditional fund-raising circuit, but he has also shown success at pulling in smaller contributions online. 

In the first quarter of the year, 64 percent of his money came from donors giving $200 or less — a larger share than most of his rivals raised from small donors. The campaign did not disclose how much of his second-quarter total came from small contributions.

(Mr. Buttigieg’s fund-raising approach differs from two of his top rivals, Mr. Sanders and Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who are not holding high-dollar fund-raisers and are relying on online donations.)

Mr. Buttigieg’s strong fund-raising gives him ample resources to compete in the Democratic primary race, though it is hardly a guarantee of success.

Mr. Buttigieg has polled well enough to place him in the upper tier of candidates in the large Democratic field, but he remains in single digits in national polling.

And although he is now much better known, he still faces a big challenge in growing his support with black voters, a critical constituency in the party. He has recently been confronted by a local crisis, the fatal shooting of a black man by a white police officer in South Bend, which has tested his leadership and revived scrutiny of his handling of the police department and his relationship with black residents.

New York Times