Where Biden, Trump, DeSantis, and others stand.
Over the weekend, presidential candidates were required to file their campaign finance reports to the Federal Election Commission, giving us a first look into the war chests of each contender. Here’s how much the hopefuls have raked in in donations, how much they’ve burned, and what it means for the 2024 race.
President Biden
President Biden brought in $72 million in the second quarter of 2023, his campaign said last week. He’s raised way more than any other candidate, partly because he’s relying on a joint fundraising vehicle, the Biden Victory Fund, which includes money raised through his campaign, the Democratic National Committee, and state parties. Max donations to the fund are capped at $929,600 — much higher than the $3,300 individual contribution limit for single campaigns.
Still, most donations were small. The campaign said 97 percent were less than $200 and that the average grass-roots contribution was $39. At present, the campaign says it has $77 million cash on hand.
Donald Trump
After Biden, Trump had the second biggest haul, collecting $35 million, his campaign said. Some of that money will be funneled into his leadership PAC, which can help pay for the former president’s legal fees or be dispersed to other candidates, Bloomberg reports. He’s still got about $22.5 million left in his war chest.
Ron DeSantis
The Florida governor raised more than $20 million in the second quarter of 2023, but some onlookers are concerned about his burn rate. DeSantis spent a staggering $8 million six weeks into his run, and in what could be a sign of financial distress, he recently fired about a dozen of the 92 people he once had on staff. And according to NBC, more than two-thirds of his second-quarter haul came from donors who gave the max contribution and legally can’t give directly to his campaign for the rest of the race.
He also has proportionately fewer small-dollar backers compared to his GOP rivals (which is one way to gauge popular support). Only 14 percent of his donors gave $200 or less, compared to the nearly 30 percent of Mike Pence’s donors — and more than one-third of Christie supporters chipped in small amounts, per the Washington Post. But DeSantis does have an edge that can’t be denied: the support of a super PAC that’s already amassed $130 million.
Mike Pence
Each GOP candidate must have more than 40,000 unique donors to qualify for the Republican National Committee’s first debate in Milwaukee. Trump, DeSantis, Sen. Tim Scott, Christie, Nikki Haley, and Vivek Ramaswamy have all said that they’ve reached that threshold. But the FEC filings suggest Pence and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson are struggling to hit that target, Washington Post reports. (The Post notes that they don’t have a full count of backers, because the FEC only requires campaigns to itemize donations of more than $200.)
Pence has raised about $1.2 million in the first 24 days of his campaign.
Where other candidates rank in the money race:
Nikki Haley: The former South Carolina governor raised $7.3 million in direct donations, while the super PAC backing her, Stand for America Fund Inc., raised $18.7 million.
Vivek Ramaswamy: Ramaswamy brought in $7.7 million, including $5.4 million of his own cash, per Bloomberg.
Tim Scott: The South Carolina senator recorded $6.1 million in second-quarter donations, on top of the $19 million a pro-Scott super PAC raised.
For more on the people in the running, check out our full list of Republicans and Democrats vying for the White House.
