Biden Has His Best Monthly Fundraising, Narrowing Gap With Trump
Michael Bloomberg Spent More Than $1 Billion on Presidential Bid
(Bloomberg) -- Joe Biden raised $46.7 million in March, his best monthly haul of the U.S. presidential campaign, even though the coronavirus pandemic shut down large swathes of the U.S. and prevented in-person fundraising.
Biden ended March with $26.4 million cash on hand, according to his latest filing with the Federal Election Commission. He still lags behind President Donald Trump’s fundraising juggernaut, but coupled with a strong showing by the Democratic National Committee, he has started to gain ground.
Biden and the DNC brought in $79.4 million, topping the $63 million that Trump, the Republican National Committee and two supporting committees raised. The GOP still has more cash on hand -- $240 million at the end of March -- than the combined $62.2 million Biden and the DNC had.
The DNC raised $32.7 million, topping the RNC’s $24 million and besting its monthly total for the first time in the 2020 election cycle.
The strong showing for the Democrats comes after a month in which Biden confirmed his status as the presumptive Democratic nominee with a string of primary victories that forced his remaining rival, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, to drop out of the race.
Throughout the nominating contest, Biden was one of the weakest fundraisers among the major Democratic candidates. Through the end of February, he’d raised less than Sanders, the Democrat’s top fundraiser to that point, as well as Senator Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg.
Democratic-aligned super political action committees also released their March numbers on Monday. Unite the Country, formed last October to shield Biden from attacks by Trump and his allies during the House impeachment inquiry, raised $10 million, its biggest month of fundraising. That was more than the $9.4 million that Trump’s super-PAC, America First Action, raised in the first quarter.
Top donors to Unite the Country included hedge fund manager James Simons, who gave $3 million, Choice Hotels International Chairman Stewart W. Bainum, who gave $2 million, and Baupost Group’s Chief Executive Officer Seth Klarman, who gave $500,000. It spent $4.6 million and started April with $6.9 million in the bank.
Priorities USA, which Biden designated last Wednesday as his campaign’s preferred destination for big donors, raised $4 million, spent $4.4 million and ended the month with $21.1 million in the bank.
Federal candidates can’t coordinate spending with super-PACs, but they can solicit donations of up to $5,000 for them. Investor Bernard L. Schwartz, an early backer of Unite the Country, donated $100,000 to Priorities in March. The League of Conservation Voters Victory Fund, which gave $2 million, was the biggest donor.
Pacronym, which is focusing on digital ads, raised $1.6 million in the same period, spent $1.1 million and ended March with $7.4 million cash on hand. It got a $1.5 million donation from Democracy PAC, a super-PAC whose sole donor is hedge fund manager George Soros.
Sanders raised $33 million in March while spending $35 million and ending the month with $16 million cash on hand, his FEC filings show.
‘Family Guy’
Overall, Sanders took in $201 million for his second presidential run, making him the top fundraiser among Democrats. Most of the money came from contributors giving $200 or less. But Biden’s resurgence in South Carolina and the narrowing of the field before and after Super Tuesday, combined with uncertainty over the resumption of primary season amid the coronavirus pandemic, led Sanders to exit the race on April 8.
The DNC’s strong month of fundraising came as it moved to Zoom to host virtual fundraisers amid the coronavirus crisis. It also received a boost from Seth MacFarlane, the creator of the TV series “Family Guy,” who donated $865,000 to a committee that supports the DNC and state parties, and Schwartz, who gave $250,000.
The DNC’s biggest contribution was the $18 million transfered to the party by Michael Bloomberg, who put $1 billion into his short-lived Democratic presidential bid, a record-shattering amount for any campaign. The former New York mayor spent $176 million in March as he wound down his operation. His campaign ended the month with $11 million in the bank and $14.8 million in debts.
Biden appeared to be on track for the best fundraising month of his career when the pandemic struck, upending campaigns and the primary season. The former vice president said he’d raised $33 million in the first half of March before the virus put the country, including political campaigns, into quarantine.
The campaign said 70% of its donations came online, with the average donation coming in at $40.
(Disclaimer: Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.)
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