Yesterday, Kemberlee blogged about 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful Julian Castro’s second-quarter financial woes. It turns out he is not the only one.
Robert O’Rourke’s fundraising also diminished in the second quarter as his campaign only brought in $3.6 million.
From The New York Times:
Mr. O’Rourke, who had entered the race in March with the promise of being a top candidate and a financial powerhouse, faltered in dramatic fashion in second-quarter fund-raising, announcing on Monday that he had taken in only $3.6 million. The sum was a fraction of what the front-runners brought in.In fact, Mr. O’Rourke’s total for the 90-day period was far less than he raised in his first 24 hours as a candidate, when he received $6.1 million.“We had a lot of that energy early,’’ Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, Mr. O’Rourke’s campaign manager, said in an interview Monday night. “We didn’t have the organization that could capitalize on that. And that’s what we’ve been building.’’
The New York Times pointed out that second-quarter reports have split the Democratic primary “into clear tiers.” Only former Vice President Joe Biden, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, and Senators Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren raised at least $10 million.
Sen. Cory Booker raised $4.5 million while Sen. Amy Klobuchar pulled in $3.9 million.
The bottom of the lower tier: Washington Gov. Jay Inslee ($3 million), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand ($2.3 million), and former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper ($1.5 million).
Those three along with Booker, Klobuchar, and O’Rourke spent more than what their campaigns brought in.
Democratic strategist Andrew Feldman described these numbers as a “doomsday scenario” for the campaigns. While the left screams for money out of politics Feldman reminded them that they cannot “build an operation that turns enthusiasm into votes without having resources to do it.”
Mathew Littman, another Democratic strategist, echoed Feldman’s thoughts since without money, “you’re not going to have the infrastructure” to have your campaign “break through” from the others.
Duh. Since the top five brought in so much money they led the pack with the most spending because they have money in the bank. Luckily for Buttigieg he has $22.7 million on hand, second only to Sanders.
Can the lower tier candidate’s campaigns come out alive? It is possible, but not likely. The late Sen. John McCain almost “ran out of money” in 2008 and he became the GOP presidential candidate.
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