Biden Raised $5.3 Million Online in October: Campaign Update

(Bloomberg) -- Joe Biden’s sluggish fundraising got a shot in the arm from online donors, who contributed $5.3 million in October, his campaign announced.

“This is our BEST online fundraising month since we launched our campaign,” according to an email sent to supporters. The thank you note also served as a fundraising pitch.

The influx of cash was good news for Biden’s campaign, which spent $2 million more than the $15.7 million it raised in the third quarter, while the $9 million cash on hand it had at the end of September lagged far behind the war chests of Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg.

Allies of Biden launched a super-PAC, Unite the Country, earlier this week to support his bid for the White House. They worried that the former vice president was battling both his Democratic rivals in the primaries and President Donald Trump, whose campaign and allies have already spent $10 million attacking Biden.

Earlier, the Trump campaign announced it had raised $19 million from online donors in October.

Trump Raises $3 Million on Impeachment Inquiry (11:48 a.m.)

President Donald Trump raised $3 million from online donors in the hours after the House of Representatives voted Thursday to begin an impeachment inquiry.

Campaign manager Brad Parscale tweeted that $19 million had been raised online in October alone, adding, “Impeachment sham is backfiring already!”

The campaign sent text messages and emails to supporters Thursday evening saying that the House vote was a reason for supporters to donate. “We need to fight back,” one email said, “if we’re going to put an end to this scam.” The email noted that no House Republicans voted for the impeachment resolution.

Trump’s fundraising previously got a boost after Speaker Nancy Pelosi in September said that Democrats were pursuing the impeachment inquiry. He took in $5 million from online donors in 24 hours, and $15 million over 72 hours. Trump also used previous probes, including the special counsel investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, for fundraising pitches to supporters. -- Bill Allison

Warren Leads Poll Showing Iowa Is Four-Way Race (8:42 a.m.)

Elizabeth Warren has emerged with a slight edge, and Joe Biden has fallen to fourth place in a new poll showing a tight four-way race in the 2020 Iowa causes, with fewer than 100 days to go.

Warren was the first choice of 22% of Iowa Democratic voters in a New York Times/Siena College poll released Friday. The poll had Bernie Sanders at 19%, Pete Buttigieg at 18% and Biden, once seen as the clear front-runner, trailing those three rivals with 17%.

The survey should raise alarms for Biden, who still leads in most national polls, but could be damaged by weak showings in the earliest primary and caucus states. The Iowa poll showed younger voters leaning left toward Warren and Sanders, while Biden is still the favorite candidate of older voters.

The Times/Siena survey, which was conducted Oct. 25-30, has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 4.7 percentage points. -- Ryan Beene

Biden Launches $4 Million Ad Push in Iowa (7:23 a.m.)

Joe Biden is spending $4 million on broadcast and digital ads in Iowa, touting his his focus on the middle class ahead of the Feb. 3 caucus.

Similar to his Democratic rivals for the party’s presidential nomination, Biden is portraying himself as seeking to help average Americans, in contrast with President Donald Trump, who they argue is focused on the wealthiest.

“With less than 100 days until the Iowa caucus, we are blanketing the state on the air and online to remind voters of the striking differences between Donald Trump’s selfish and senseless actions and Joe Biden’s inclusive economic vision for the middle class,” Greg Schultz, Biden’s campaign manager, said in an emailed statement.

While Biden leads or is statistically tied in Iowa state polls, Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg, who have highly organized campaigns in Iowa, also get strong support among caucus-goers in the latest USA Today/Suffolk poll. -- Kasia Klimasinska

COMING UP

Fourteen presidential candidates, including Biden, Buttigieg, Bernie Sanders, Warren, are scheduled to speak Friday at the Liberty and Justice Celebration hosted by the Iowa Democratic Party in Des Moines.

On Saturday, eight Democratic presidential candidates will attend a fish fry in Cedar Rapids, hosted by freshman Democratic Representative Abby Finkenauer.

--With assistance from Kasia Klimasinska and Ryan Beene.

To contact the reporter on this story: Bill Allison in Washington DC at ballison14@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, Steve Geimann, Max Berley

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