Trump and DeSantis Soar, Pence and Christie Lag Behind: Takeaways from the GOP Fundraising Reports

Former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis far outraised their Republican rivals for president, while some candidates risk not making the debate stage according to the latest round of FEC filings.

Summary

Former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis far outraised their Republican rivals for president, while some candidates risk not making the debate stage according to the latest round of FEC filings.

• Trump raised a combined $35 million in the second quarter. DeSantis raised $20 million for his campaign in six weeks of being a candidate, and his affiliated super PAC raised $130 million, boosted by a transfer from his gubernatorial campaign committee.
• The next tier consists of two South Carolinians. Ambassador Nikki Haley raised $7.3 million and should qualify for the debate. Sen. Tim Scott brought in $6.1 million from more than 53,000 contributors, enough to qualify for the first GOP presidential primary debate.
• Trailing behind, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie raised $1.65 million in less than a month and had $1.59 million cash on hand. Christie confirmed to CNN earlier this week that he had reached the 40,000-donor threshold required to appear in the primary debates.
• On the Democratic side, President Joe Biden more than doubled Trump’s total, bringing in $72 million. Biden’s leading primary challenger, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., raised a respectable $6.3 million, enough to put him on par with Haley, Scott, and Vivek Ramaswamy (see below).

• NBC News saw “warning signs” in DeSantis’ fundraising report. The Florida governor “tapped out top donors and burned through $7.9 million in his first six weeks as a presidential candidate… The numbers suggest, for the first time, that solvency could be a threat to DeSantis’ campaign, which has touted its fundraising ability as a key measure of viability.”
• “The F.E.C. reports are the M.R.I. scan of a campaign,” Republican strategist Mike Murphy told the New York Times. The Times also highlighted Republican Gov. Doug Burgum’s quarterly report. The wealthy GOP presidential candidate raised $1.5 million and lent his campaign $10 million, but spent most of it and ended the quarter with $3.6 million cash on hand.
• The Washington Post highlighted the Republican candidates at risk of not making the first Republican debate: Mike Pence, Burgum, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez.

• The New York Post reported entrepreneur and GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy raised $7.7 million in the second quarter, a total inflated by a $5 million loan Ramaswamy gave his campaign. Over 70% of the money Ramaswamy raised was self-funded, but he had enough individual donors to qualify for the debates.
• Vice President Mike Pence raised $1.2 million in the weeks since he kicked off his bid on June 7, according to Fox News. Pence’s affiliated super PAC brought it $2.6 million. The former vice president failed to clear the 40,000-donor threshold, putting him in danger of missing out on the first GOP debate.
• Breitbart covered the latest American Pulse poll of New Hampshire Republican voters, where Trump holds a solid 37-point lead over DeSantis. Trump leads with 47.5 percent support, trailed by DeSantis with 10.5 percent in a statistical tie with Christie, who had 10 percent.

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© Dominic Moore, 2023