O'Rourke raises $4.5 million in third quarter
October 11, 2019
Beto O’Rourke raised about $4.5 million during the past three months, his campaign said Friday, a sluggish haul reflecting his struggle to gain traction in the Democratic primary.
The sum represents a nearly $1 million increase from O’Rourke’s abysmal second fundraising quarter, in which the former Texas congressman raised just $3.6 million. And it comes despite a pause in fundraising following the mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, his home town.
O'Rourke and his advisers are expected to tell staffers and supporters on a call on Friday afternoon that he could finish in the top five in Iowa and New Hampshire and still make a credible run, relying on a stronger showing in Nevada and in Super Tuesday states, including Texas and California.
Following a fast start — O’Rourke raised $6.1 million in the 24 hours after he announced his campaign in March — he quickly fell back both in fundraising and public opinion polls, where he now sits at between 2 percent and 3 percent nationally.
O’Rourke’s fundraising total, announced late Friday afternoon, falls far below the front-tier contenders. Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren each announced second-quarter fundraising of about $25 million, and former Vice President Joe Biden raised more than $15 million.
Outside of the top tier, Sen. Kamala Harris raised $11.6 million in the past three months, businessman Andrew Yang raised $10 million and Sen. Cory Booker raised more than $6 million. Sen. Amy Klobuchar raised $4.8 million from July through September.
O’Rourke’s slumping fundraising came despite the campaign’s increased effort on fundraising and a furious late-quarter fundraising push, even as he poked fun at some of his competitors for their appeals.
Speaking at the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin during the closing days of the fundraising quarter, O’Rourke joked he could “maybe do a Facebook Live stream with a kitten, and say, ‘You know, now we don’t want anything to happen to the kitten. So, send your five dollars, your 10 dollars, your 15 dollars in now and Miss Whiskers is going to be fine.’”
O’Rourke’s campaign then tweeted, “I’m not gonna do that, but if you want to donate, here’s a link.”
O’Rourke and his campaign manager, Jen O’Malley Dillon, are expected to discuss the state of the campaign in an all-staff call on Friday afternoon, which they are inviting supporters to listen to. They are expected to argue that O'Rourke is not yet widely known to the electorate and that they have time to change the dynamic of the race.
They are also emphasizing outreach to non-traditional voters who the campaign believes are not always accounted for in polls.
Source: https://www.politico.com/
