Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) revealed Monday that her presidential campaign raised $5.2 million in the first fundraising quarter of 2019, which ended Friday.
The Minnesota senator currently has $7 million in cash on hand after transferring some funds from her Senate campaign account. Klobuchar announced her candidacy on February 11, meaning she was able to raise the $5.2 million in roughly seven weeks, but the figure pales in comparison to some of her more high-profile competitors.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), for instance, raised $6 million in just the first 24 hours of his campaign. Former Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke, meanwhile, raised $9.4 million in the 18 days between announcing candidacy and the close of the quarter, according to Business Insider, which reports that O’Rourke raised $6.1 million in the first 24 hours.
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), who declared candidacy in January, raised a total of $12 million, while Sanders led the pack with $18.2 million in total donations. Klobuchar does have a slight lead over Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), who raised $5 million since launching his campaign.
Dark-horse candidate Pete Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Indiana, raised $7 million in the first quarter of 2019.
Klobuchar’s campaign said it had nearly 100,000 donors in the first quarter, while others such as Harris posted 218,000 donors, and Sanders claimed to have 525,000 donors.
“Since that snowy day we launched in February, the outpouring of support has been incredible. We’ve raised over $5.2 million from every state in the country to power this homegrown campaign. Thank you so much for everything,” Klobuchar wrote on Twitter Monday.
Since that snowy day we launched in February, the outpouring of support has been incredible. We’ve raised over $5.2 MILLION from every state in the country to power this homegrown campaign. Thank you so much for everything. pic.twitter.com/x9BFiUgHHs
— Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) April 8, 2019
The Democratic National Committee requires that 2020 candidates hit one of two benchmarks to qualify for the first debate, scheduled for June. Candidates must either receive campaign contributions from a minimum of 65,000 individuals, or reach one percent in at least three national polls. Klobuchar has now done both.
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Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of Battleground State News, The Ohio Star, and The Minnesota Sun. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
