Buttigieg campaign says it raised more than $24.7 million in last quarter of 2019, $76M for year
South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg raked in more than $24.7 million in political contributions in the final quarter of 2019, bringing his total for the year to more than $76 million, his campaign announced Wednesday.
Buttigieg's campaign manager, Mike Schmuhl, said in a statement that 326,000 people contributed to the campaign in the fourth quarter with an average donation of $33. For the year, he said the campaign received contributions from more than 733,000 people. And of the more than $76 million raised in 2019, 98% was donations of less than $200, Schmuhl also said.
The totals for the mayor, whose last day in office is Wednesday, underscores his position as one of the leading candidates in the Democratic presidential primary. Buttigieg has consistently placed fourth in most recent national polls while also polling at or near in the top in Iowa and New Hampshire, the first two states to vote in the 2020 primary season.
"These figures are even more astounding considering that Pete started this race less than a year ago as an unknown candidate, with just a few staffers and zero dollars in the bank," Schmuhl wrote in his memo announcing the fundraising totals.
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"This quarter, Pete solidified himself as a top tier presidential candidate, not by tapping into the fundraising list or bank account of a sitting Senator or someone who had run for president before, but by speaking to voters who for too long have been let down by politicians in Washington and are looking for a better path forward," he wrote.
Candidates' fundraising totals are crucial in the final weeks before the Iowa caucuses on Feb. 3 as the presidential hopefuls race to win over the remaining undecided voters with outreach and advertising.
Schmuhl said Buttigieg's resources have allowed him to open 35 offices with 100 organizers in Iowa and 65 offices with more than 500 staffers nationwide.
Buttigieg's fourth-quarter total reflected something of a rebound after raising just over $19 million in the previous quarter. While still a healthy total, that haul was a dip from the campaign's $24.8 million second quarter that helped propel Buttigieg to the front of the large Democratic field.
Buttigieg is the first candidate to announce his fundraising total for the last quarter of 2019 ahead of the Jan. 31 filing deadline. But other campaigns have hinted at where they expect to end up.
With about $17 million raised, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts is "a good chunk behind" where she was at the same point in the third quarter, when she brought in $24.6 million, according to an email her campaign sent to supporters last week. Warren has also dipped in recent polls after topping former Vice President Joe Biden, who has consistently led the race, in some national surveys.
Biden's campaign said in an email that it expected to top the $21.5 million it raised in the second quarter, according to The New York Times.
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont is expected to post an haul likely to top Buttigieg's total thanks to a huge number of small donations, The Times reported.
Entrepreneur Andrew Yang's campaign told Fox News it expects to report a fundraising total of more than $12.5 million, which would be at least a 25% increase from the third quarter of 2019.
Contributing: Maureen Groppe
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pete Buttigieg campaign says it raised $24.7 million in last quarter
