2020 Democratic presidential candidate Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren's campaign boasted an impressive haul of over $29 million in February, according to a campaign memo released on Sunday and quoted by The New York Times in the wake of the South Carolina primary which witnessed a commanding landslide from former Vice President Joe Biden.
Warren, who garnered 7 per cent in the nominating contest and finished fifth, had made more in one month than the campaign had succeeded in raising during previous quarters.
70-year old Warren, a vehement critic of President Donald Trump, hails from the so-called ''progressive wing'' of the party and is known for her "Medicare for All" healthcare plan, which has been lambasted by both Democrats and Republicans.
The Senator, who along with the other contenders is already looking ahead to Super Tuesday on 3 March, when 14 states cast ballots across the country, congratulated Joe Biden on his victory at a rally in Houston.
Emphasizing her determination to persist in fighting for delegates, Warren said:
"I’ll be the first to say that the first four contests haven’t gone exactly as I’d hoped… My campaign is built for the long haul and we are looking forward to these big contests."
Wrapping up her address, Warren urged supporters to donate to her campaign.
However, just a few months ago, wrapping up 2019, Warren’s campaign had been bemoaning the numbers, concerned that if they didn’t pick up there were risks of scaling back plans to “organize for the Senator in all 50 states during the primary", according to an e-mail cited in a report in the Boston Globe.
According to the email, Warren's campaign acknowledged that it only raised $17 million in the last quarter of 2019 compared with $24.6 million in the third quarter - a drop of $7.6 million, or 31 per cent.
Joe Biden
Former vice president and 2020 presidential hopeful Joe Biden, according to POLITICO, received a welcome cash influx as he was heading into the South Carolina primary, where he triumphed on Saturday, clearing 48,4 per cent.
Biden’s campaign fundraising totaled $2 million in four days ahead of the primary, as the pro-Biden Unite the Country super PAC raised $2.5 million on 27 February alone, boosting his ad buy ahead of Super Tuesday.
Bernie Sanders
When it comes to presidential campaign donations, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders boasted a mammoth $46.5 million in February.
The self-described "democratic socialist" finished a distant second behind Joe Biden in South Carolina's primary, with 19.9 per cent.
While announcing it will run TV ads in nine states holding primaries later this month: Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri and Washington, which vote on 10 March, and Arizona, Florida, Illinois and Ohio, which vote a week later, Sanders’ campaign manager Faiz Shakir said in a statement:
“The senator’s multi-generational, multiracial working class coalition keeps fueling his campaign for transformational change a few bucks at a time.”
According to Shakir, out of over 2 million donations received in February, more than 1.4 million were from voters in Super Tuesday states.
Sanders’ success hinges on attracting small, online donations with the contributors giving repeatedly without exceeding federal limits – a format that Warren has also made ample use of.
Sanders and Warren are the only two candidates who have completely rejected PAC money and all private, high-dollar fundraisers, as they place their trust in grassroots donations.
Mike Bloomberg
And yet Sanders, albeit boasting an impressive cash advantage over rivals, falls short when measuring up against billionaire former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg. The latter has dipped into his personal coffers to lavish over $400 million on his campaign since entering the Democratic presidential race in late November, according to the ad-tracking firm Advertising Analytics.
According to the latest Federal Election Commission filings, Bloomberg has spent more on his presidential bid than Sanders, Warren, Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar have spent on their campaigns combined.
