First Day Campaigning in Congress: On the Raising of Donald Trump’s Fundraising Committees to the Post-Presidential Level
During the first quarter, from January 1 to March 31, Trump received a total of 541,971 donations, according to the figures provided by his campaign. The average donation was roughly $34.
The Trump campaign said the legal problems have helped him both financially and politically as he continues to campaign for his third chance at the presidency.
On Friday, the former president filed his personal financial disclosure report with the FEC – offering the public a first look at his post-presidential finances. The 101-page report provided some new insights into Trump’s finances since he left office, including his social media business venture, and last year’s sale of digital trading cards known as NFTs, or non-fungible tokens.
Former President Donald Trump’s criminal indictment helped jolt his fundraising. GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley faces questions about her campaign math. More contributions were refunds than the Rep. George Santos took in. And some – but not all – of the Democratic Party’s most vulnerable Senate incumbents have stepped up their fundraising ahead of tough 2024 election fights.
Earlier this month, Haley’s campaign publicized what it boasted as a strong haul for her 2024 presidential bid: The former South Carolina governor had raised “more than $11 million in just six weeks,” according to a campaign release.
But official filings with the Federal Election Commission on Saturday night show that the campaign appears to have double-counted money routed among Haley’s fundraising committees, overstating the topline figure.
Fundraising serves as one benchmark of support for a campaign, and candidates are often eager to tout big numbers in advance of their official filings with federal regulators.
In an email to CNN on Sunday, Haley campaign spokesman Ken Farnaso defended the $11 million figure, saying the accounting mirrored how other candidates have previously described their fundraising.
The New York Republican filed a campaign report on Saturday that stated his campaign returned more money than it took in.
The freshman congressman from Long Island received $5,333 in contributions during the first quarter and refunded more than $8,000 in donations. It is uncommon for a sitting member of Congress to have a net loss on their report.
By contrast, another first-term congressman, Republican Anthony D’Esposito, who represents a neighboring district, reported more than $670,000 in receipts during the first quarter, including more than $300,000 from political action committees and other lawmakers’ campaign committees.
A Conversation with Don Dolan: Fundraising Strategies for a Democratic 2020 reelection bid in New York City, New York, and Ohio
There are investigations into his finances, education and work history, as well as a House ethics inquiry.
As of March 31, the campaign had only $25,000 left in the bank and $715,000 in debt, which Santos has claimed is personal funds he gave to his successful congressional campaign in New York.
Last month, Santos formally filed paperwork for a 2024 reelection bid, but it followed a demand from the FEC that he declare his intentions after he crossed a fundraising threshold that required him to file a statement of candidacy.
In Arizona, the leading Democratic candidate for Senate, Rep. Ruben Gallego, outraised independent incumbent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, bringing in nearly $3.8 million to his opponent’s $2.1 million.
Porter, who transferred nearly $11 million from her House campaign into her Senate account this year, had more than $9.4 million in cash still available on March 31. Lee had a little more than $1 million in available cash.
Feinstein, who at 89 is the oldest sitting senator, has announced she will not seek reelection next year – although she is facing calls from some Democrats to retire now after being sidelined with shingles since early March.
Sinema, who changed her affiliation from Democrat late last year, continues to caucus with her former party. She doesn’t have an intention to seek a second term. But she has the resources to compete in what could be a costly, three-way general election battle for the seat. She had close to $10 million in available cash at the beginning of March, compared to Gallego who had over $2 million.
Mark Lamb, an Arizona sheriff aligned with Trump, this month became the first major Republican candidate to enter the race, but he won’t file his first fundraising report until July.
Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio – who is seeking a fourth term in what will be one of the most closely watched contests of the 2024 cycle – raised more than $3.5 million in the first quarter, up from the roughly $333,000 he collected during the last three months of 2022.
Some Republicans plan to run against Brown, including a Cleveland businessman and a former state senator.
Saturday’s filings show Dolan collecting $3.3 million – most of which he loaned his campaign. Moreno joined the race in April, after the first-quarter fundraising period had ended.
Jon Tester had $7 million in the bank at the end of March, he is a Democrat running for reelection in a Republican state.
In West Virginia, where Trump won by over 40 points in 2020, Republican Sen. Joe Manchin has not yet declared if he will run again in four years. He pulled in just $370,000 in the first quarter but was sitting atop a $9.7 million war chest of available cash as of March 31.