Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris Lead the Democratic Money Race
Election 2020,Campaign Finance,Elections
Who has the most campaign cash on hand? Who spent about as much money as they raised? Who relied heavily on personal loans and past political accounts?
Democratic presidential candidates on Monday provided the first broad look at campaign finances. Early fund-raising is no guarantee of votes in 2020, but it is a barometer of which Democrats are generating interest — not an easy feat in a crowded field.
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We crunched the fund-raising numbers for 16 Democrats, and the revelations below are telling about how much money they can invest in staff and events in critical early-voting states. Democrats toward the rear of the pack are at a big disadvantage: Their ability to build campaigns to go the distance will be limited unless they improve their fund-raising.
Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris have raised the most money from individual donors.
Senator Bernie Sanders entered the race with a huge network of online donors from his 2016 presidential bid. Senator Kamala Harris also showed her fund-raising strength, as did former Representative Beto O’Rourke, who raised a mountain of cash in his unsuccessful Senate bid last year.
Elizabeth Warren and Kirsten Gillibrand transferred huge sums from their Senate campaigns.
Several candidates supplemented their presidential fund-raising by transferring money raised in past federal races. Legally, money can be transferred only from federal campaigns, giving members of Congress an advantage over candidates who are mayors or governors, or those who have never held federal office. Candidates can also contribute their own money.
