Thus far, the GOP presidential field officially includes three of the Senate’s best. We’re still waiting on the Governors to join the party.
It’s still early, but how are the current candidates fairing on the fundraising front?
Ted Cruz
The first to hop in the race, Cruz raised $ 4.3 million in his first 9 days of campaigning. A respectable start. If Governor Perry jumps in the race as anticipated, Cruz might lose some of his early fundraising steam. Governor Perry has a well established donor base in the Lone Star State that could suck funds away from Cruz.
According to the Dallas Morning News, although Cruz has the early lead, he’s in for stiff competition as the field continues to expand. By all accounts Governor Bush will be the moneyed man to beat.
Still, Cruz is expected to trail other major candidates in the fund-raising battle. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush reportedly had a $100 million fund-raising goal for the quarter that ended March 31, while Cruz would be happy to get $50 million for the entire campaign.
Rand Paul
Rand Paul also raised a quick million right out of the gate:
Which according The Washington Post, was about $24 for every second of his campaign announcement speech. Sen. Paul also accepts Bitcoin donations.
According to Sen. Paul’s campaign website, current donations are at $2.1 million for the Kentucky Senator.
Marco Rubio
Senator Rubio’s candidacy is barely three days old. According to the Associated Press, Sen. Rubio joined the million dollar club on his first official campaign day, raking in $1.25 million.
Sen. Rubio will spend the majority of April and May aggressively fundraising. “One of the events will involve billionaire businessman and philanthropist Norman Braman, who is expected to be one of Rubio’s biggest financial backers,” according to Ed O’Keefe at The Washington Post.
Like Sen. Cruz, Sen. Rubio is likely to find himself in a fundraising battle with another home state hopeful, Governor Bush.
And we haven’t even gotten into the PAC fun yet.
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