Booker raised over $6 million in third quarter thanks to late surge
October 1, 2019
Sen. Cory Booker raised more than $6 million in the third quarter, his presidential campaign said Tuesday, buoyed by a surge of more than 46,000 donations totaling $2.1 million in the final 10 days of September.
It's Booker’s best quarterly fundraising total to date, and he raised more money in September than any other month this year. But Booker’s fundraising is still lagging far behind the leaders in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary. Sen. Bernie Sanders announced earlier Tuesday that he raised more than $25 million in the third quarter, while South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg raised $19.1 million.
Booker’s late-quarter fundraising spike followed a dire warning to supporters that the New Jersey senator would end his campaign if he couldn’t raise $1.7 million in the final days of September. Booker’s campaign clinched that milestone Sunday night and confirmed Monday that he would stay in the race, which his campaign now believes is “wide open” with more than 120 days before Democrats begin caucusing and voting.
“In short, this is a race we can win — if we have the resources we need to steadily grow our campaign and show Democratic voters that Cory is the right candidate for this moral moment in our country’s history,” campaign manager Addisu Demissie wrote in a campaign memo Tuesday morning.
“We’re not seeking to manufacture a fleeting breakout moment months away from the first contests,” he continued. “Our strategy since day one of this campaign has been about building — brick-by-brick — a campaign to grow steadily through the long primary season, and win when voting begins.”
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Demissie said the campaign will hire 40 new staffers across the early states and its Newark headquarters over the next six weeks, open new field offices this month, launch a ballot access program and invest six figures into growing its email list.
Booker’s next goal is to kick off the fourth quarter of 2019 by raising $3 million in October. The campaign projects that it will need $2.5 million to cover the month’s expenses, and the additional $500,000 will allow it to make investments in November and December for get-out-the-vote programs and advertising.
“The good news: while ambitious, we know $3 million in a month is an attainable goal — because we just raised over $3.1 million in September,” Demissie said. “Most importantly, at this point, it is the real amount we think we need to sustain, grow, and remain competitive in this primary contest.”
On a conference call with reporters later Tuesday, Demissie did not share the campaign's cash on hand total or the size of its average donation last quarter. But he noted more than half of Booker's donors in the last 10 days were new to the campaign.
The campaign will continue to be transparent with periodic updates on its fundraising progress, Demissie said. But Booker won’t threaten to end his campaign if it comes up short of its goal this month.
“It was never about survival. It was about growth,” Demissie said of the $1.7 million fundraising push. “Had we not had this fundraising surge at the end of the quarter, we would’ve had enough money to survive but not to grow, and growth is what we needed to win. Now we have the funds we need to grow. We need more.”
Source: https://www.politico.com/
