Republican National Committee Raising, and Spending, Big Money
Republican National Committee Raising, and Spending, Big Money
(Bloomberg) -- The Republican National Committee announced it raised $14.6 million in May, a record total for the month in a non-presidential election year, and ended the period with $37 million in the bank.
The committee said it also spent $12.3 million last month, and its cumulative spending of $62.9 million so far in 2019 is the largest outlay by the party for the first five months of any year -- including those with presidential elections.
The announcement comes just a day after President Donald Trump topped his Democratic opponents by raising $24.8 million in less than 24 hours in connection with the formal launch of his re-election campaign. Some of that money was raised for the RNC, though those amounts weren’t included in the numbers the RNC reported on Thursday.
“Another record-breaking fundraising month allows the RNC to continue to invest in our world-class, permanent, data-driven field program,” Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement, resources that will be critical for Republicans competing in the 2020 elections.
The party is to file its complete report on its May fundraising and expenditures with the Federal Election Commission on Thursday. The Democratic National Committee, which is also set to report its May fundraising numbers, has not yet announced its monthly figures.
The GOP’s early financial strength is allowing the party to prepare for the November 2020 elections, still more than 16 months away. The RNC said it is in the process of training more than 4,400 neighborhood organizers and volunteers at 250 events to help get out the vote in the general election, and is spending early in states it will need to win if Trump is to have a second term.
The DNC said it plans to train 1,000 organizers this summer but so far has lagged far behind the RNC in fundraising, which is typical for the party that doesn’t hold the White House.
The RNC said it has taken in $76.4 million through May and has no debt. The DNC had total receipts of $27.5 million through the end of April, which includes $3 million in loans taken out this year.
Democratic donors are dividing their contributions among more than 20 candidates but have been as generous as Republicans. From January through March, the 16 Democrats who’d officially started their presidential campaigns collectively raised $77 million, or $3 million more than Trump’s campaign and the RNC combined.
Yet Trump’s fundraising prowess was evident from his first day haul. His $24.8 million was far above the 24-hour fundraising totals announced by some of his Democratic rivals after starting their campaigns, including former Vice President Joe Biden’s $6.3 million, former Texas congressman Beto O’Rourke’s $6.1 million, and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders’s $5.9 million.
Though he officially started his campaign on Tuesday, Trump began fundraising for it shortly after the 2016 election. Unprecedented for a president in the first two years of his term, Trump raised $67.5 million for his campaign. By contrast, President Barack Obama had been in office more than two years before he headlined his first re-election fundraiser. President George W. Bush raised just $268,423 during his first two years in office, FEC records show.
The RNC has enjoyed strong fundraising under McDaniel. The party said it has raised $401.2 million in the 29 months since she took over leadership of the party, more than it’s raised at the start of previous four-year presidential cycles.
To contact the reporter on this story: Bill Allison in Washington at ballison14@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sara Forden at sforden@bloomberg.net, John Harney, Mark Niquette
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