Biden Says He Raised $21.5 Million Since Entering Democratic Race

(Bloomberg) -- Joe Biden raised $21.5 million in the two months since entering the Democratic presidential race in late April, his campaign said in an email to supporters.

The total puts the former vice president’s campaign behind the $24.8 million raised in the second quarter by Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who was little known outside his home state just a few months ago. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who’s been in second place behind Biden in most polls, announced Tuesday that he’d raised $18 million in the quarter beginning April 1.

Biden had 256,000 donors and received 436,000 contributions from them, according to the campaign, with an average donation of $49.“We are grateful for the immense grassroots support we are seeing,” said campaign manager Greg Schultz. “We’re continuing to build a campaign that energizes and expands Team Joe and puts us in a strong position to take on Donald Trump.”

Biden continues to hold a lead in polls of the Democratic race but has seen his support slip in several surveys since the first debate last week. Senators Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren, who have yet to disclose their fundraising totals for the quarter, have gained on both Biden and Sanders after delivering strong performances at the debate.

Despite his fundraising success, Buttigieg trails the top four, getting just 4% support in polls conducted by the Washington Post/ABC News, Quinnipiac University and CNN.

Biden, Sanders, Harris and Buttigieg are all campaigning this week in Iowa, which kicks off the formal nominating contest with party caucuses next February. Warren is in Nevada, the state where the third round of voting will be held.

Reporting Deadline

Candidates are due to report second-quarter totals to the Federal Election Commission officially on July 15. Some campaigns voluntarily announce the amount they raised ahead of the deadline as a demonstration of their support outside of polls.

Biden wasn’t a prolific fundraiser when in the Senate or in his previous presidential runs. He raised just $8.6 million when he ran for the Democratic nomination in 2008, dropping out after finishing fifth in the Iowa caucuses.

In his current run for office, he’s held a steady stream of high-dollar fundraising events, which his campaign publicly announces and opens to the media. At a June event in New York, he raised money from Wall Street figures including former Clinton administration Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, the former Citigroup Inc. executive, and Stephen Scherr, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

In May, former Google chairman Eric Schmidt, movie mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg and Rufus Gifford, who was former President Barack Obama’s 2012 finance director, were among hosts listed on the invitation to a May 8 fundraiser in Los Angeles. It was held in the home of former U.S. Ambassador to Spain James Costos and Michael Smith, an interior designer who helped the Obamas with their White House decor.

As Democrats fight for dollars in a crowded primary field -- there are 24 candidates running -- President Trump is building a large financial advantage as he preps for the general election. His campaign manager said on Tuesday that Trump’s re-election campaign and the Republican National Committee combined to raise $105 million during the second quarter and had $100 million in cash on hand.

To contact the reporters on this story: Jennifer Epstein in Washington at jepstein32@bloomberg.net;Bill Allison in Washington at ballison14@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, Larry Liebert

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