Mike Bloomberg spends more than $188 million of his own money, Bernie Sanders has massive $34.5 million haul in Q4
Presidential contenders ended 2019 with the close of books of the fourth fundraising quarter, marking another significant turning point that could possibly reorder the trajectory of the primary contest.
Throughout 2019, the money race reflected the shifting momentum that defined the contours of the campaign, with an early surge from then little-known South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg in the second quarter, to a grassroots behemoth supplying a financial edge for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders quarter after quarter, to opposing fortunes for the two other candidates in the top tier, former Vice President Joe Biden and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
In the coming weeks, the final push before early voting begins on Feb. 3. The candidates will pour their war chests into Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina, in the hopes of garnering a slice of delegates ahead of March's Super Tuesday as the battle for the Democratic nomination comes to the forefront. But in the last sprint before Iowa, the candidates begin 2020 the same way they started 2019: with a still unsettled-race.
For most of the year, Biden, Buttigieg, Sanders and Warren have occupied the top spots in the race. Among those in the middle tier, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar are seeking to score an 11th-hour boost, with a spree of fundraising emails in the absence of top-tier polling.
After the third quarter saw one of the most notable exits, with California Sen. Kamala Harris suspending her campaign in early December due to money constraints, and the advent of two campaigns with very different financial fortunes -- former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and billionaire and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg -- the Democratic primary still counts 15 candidates and no clear front-runner.
The fourth quarter covers the months of October, November and December.
ABC News will continue to update this story as more candidates release details on their fundraising numbers.
Michael Bloomberg reports spending more than $188 million in a little more than a month
Through the end of December, 2019, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he dropped a staggering $200 million to his own campaign -- and received zero donation from anyone else, his presidential campaign’s first FEC filing shows.
The campaign reported spending $188.4 million of that during the filing period -- with more than $132 million of the money going to television ads and $8 million to digital ads.
The campaign ended the year with just under $12 million in the bank and $33 million in debt. But for the Bloomberg campaign, which has surpassed $300 million just on ad spending on Thursday, the cash on hand is a fluid number: the campaign notes that as the sole donor, Bloomberg intermittently replenishes the funds.
“Our first month’s filing represents a down payment and commitment in all 50 states to defeat Donald Trump, and it shows we have the resources and plan necessary to take him on,” campaign manager Kevin Sheekey said in a statement to ABC News.
Bernie Sanders tops Democratic field with $34.5 million haul
Bernie Sanders, a grassroots juggernaut, once again showed his prolific fundraising prowess in the last quarter of 2019 by pulling in a massive $34.5 million haul over three months, which is more than any other Democrat in a single quarter this cycle, his campaign announced Thursday.
Sanders' sum, from more than 1.8 million donations, puts the senator's total 2019 fundraising at more than $96 million raised since his campaign launched in February -- and positions his campaign for a deep-pocketed, early state push for the weeks leading into the early primaries and caucuses.
"Bernie Sanders is closing the year with the most donations of any candidate in history at this point in a presidential campaign," Sanders' campaign manager Faiz Shakir said in a statement.
A statement from the campaign notes that Sanders took in $18 million in the month of December alone, his "best" fundraising month so far this cycle. On Wednesday, Sanders' campaign sent an email to supporters announcing that the campaign had met its year-end goal of 5 million individual contributions with an average donation of $18.53.
Pete Buttigieg continues to prove his fundraising strength
Buttigieg, the first Democratic presidential candidate to release fundraising totals for the fourth quarter, set a high bar for the rest of field, announcing Wednesday morning that he raised more than $24.7 million. That brought his total to more than $76 million since the beginning of the year from more than 2 million donations and more than 733,000 individuals, according to his campaign. The average donation is roughly $33 for the quarter.
Buttigieg continues a steady pace as a strong fundraiser, even after a slower third quarter, in which the campaign raked in $19 million. Throughout the year, he's poured his war chest into the first four early states of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina, scaling up a massive field operation ahead of the first votes. Since the onset of 2019, he has increased his campaign staff to over 500 across the country, and opened 65 field offices, including 35 offices and more than 100 organizers in Iowa, the most of any "top-tier presidential campaign," his campaign wrote in a memo announcing his latest haul.
In an email to supporters, his campaign, which just a few weeks ago was a target of criticism for its high-dollar fundraisers, touted strong grassroots support, emphasizing that its support didn’t come from a fundraising list of a Washington politicians and that the campaign wasn’t funded by the personal wealth of a millionaire or a billionaire.
"This means our campaign is continuing to grow, and every single day we are building the support we need to compete in and win the Democratic primary," the campaign wrote in the email.
Joe Biden raises $22.7 million, his biggest haul to date; remains behind Sanders and Buttigieg
Former Vice President Joe Biden raised $22.7 million dollars in the fourth fundraising quarter of 2019—his best fundraising quarter to date in the 2020 election cycle.
"I just wanted to thank you for putting yourself on the line, vouching for me, vouching for the family," Biden said in a video released on Twitter Thursday announcing the numbers.
Biden’s numbers put him third so far for the fourth quarter of 2019, compared to several other 2020 campaigns that have already released their numbers -- Sanders and Buttigeig.
An adviser to Biden told reporters in December the campaign saw an uptick in the number of individual donors giving to the campaign particularly following the departure of Harris and former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke from the race. Biden’s team also credits President Trump reportedly asking the president of Ukraine to open an investigation into Biden and his son with the fundraising boost they saw.
"Biden for President doubled its online fundraising and increased its overall fundraising by 49% compared to last quarter, demonstrating financial momentum at the same time as Vice President Biden’s lead nationally has grown," a press release sent out by the Biden campaign Thursday afternoon said.
Elizabeth Warren lags behind rest of top tier with $21.2 million haul
Sen. Elizabeth Warren announced on Friday she raised $21.2 million from more than 443,000 donors in the fourth quarter, coming in shy of her top primary opponents with just a month until the early voting gets underway.
Warren brought in $13.3 million less than Sanders, the only other candidate in the top tier besides Warren who has also shunned any kind of high-dollar, closed-door fundraising. She also fell just shy of Buttigieg and Biden, who raised about $3.5 and $1.5 million more, respectively. Warren's latest fundraising total is also less than the $24.6 million she raised in the third quarter.
"I'm deeply grateful to every single person who contributed to my campaign. I didn't spend one single minute selling access to my time to millionaires and billionaires. I did this grassroots all across the country," Warren told reporters on Thursday, hearkening to her eschewing of big-dollar donors and her hard knocks against 2020 billionaire contenders such as Bloomberg and Tom Steyer.
The haul, which came from almost 900,000 contributions with an average donation of $23, saw an eleventh-hour fundraising boost, with almost $4 million coming in the final few days of the quarter as the campaign issued a days-long plea to supporters to help reach their goal of $20 million. On the last day of the fourth quarter, Warren’s campaign raised $1.5 million.
Andrew Yang outperforms best quarter by millions, raises more than $16.5 million in Q4
Andrew Yang, the businessman and political outsider, raised more than $16.5 million in the final quarter of 2019, a strong showing and a new high for his campaign. Yang raised over 165% more than he had in the previous fundraising quarter, and his campaign saw its best fundraising day of the entire campaign on New Year's Eve, taking in $1.3 million on the last day of the quarter.
"At every turn in this race, Andrew Yang continues to exceed expectations whether it’s in terms of grassroots fundraising, making the debates, early state polling, or the ability to draw big crowds," Yang campaign chief Nick Ryan said in a press release.
After the Democratic National Committee rejected Yang's request that it commission four early state polls ahead of the next debate qualifying deadline, the campaign said it saw a "massive uptick in contributions." According to the campaign, Yang has received over 1 million total contributions from 400,000 individual donors. The average donation is $30, and 98% of online donations are under $200.
Amy Klobuchar sees her strongest fundraising quarter yet in Q4
Sen. Amy Klobuchar saw a significant uptick in fundraising in the fourth quarter of 2019, bringing in $11.4 million from 145,126 donors, according to her campaign, which is more than double any of her previous quarters at a time when she is eyeing a last-minute boost in the early voting states.
The haul -- the strongest of Klobuchar's campaign which began in February -- exceeded her third quarter total of $4.8 million by 137%, her campaign announced. The average online contribution was $32 and 92% of donors gave less than $200.
Klobuchar's campaign manager, Justin Buoen, cited her debate performances as the reason for the Minnesota senator's grassroots success, saying, "Sen. Klobuchar’s standout performances on the debate stage in October, November and December resonated with voters and caucus-goers across the country. As a result, we have been able to double our staff in Iowa and New Hampshire and make critical investments in Nevada and South Carolina as well as prepare for Super Tuesday."
The senator is already pouring her surge of cash into a new ad, set to run in Iowa and New Hampshire and backed by a six-figure ad buy, on the heels of a tour of all of Iowa’s 99 counties and seven town hall swing in the Granite State. The ad positions Klobuchar as a unifier and touts her ability to win "in rural, urban, and suburban areas every time. Even districts Donald Trump won."
Cory Booker outperforms past fundraising quarters with help from first-time donors
Sen. Cory Booker saw his best fundraising quarter to date, raising $6.6 million in the final months of 2019 with an average donation of $22.98, his campaign announced Friday. While the New Jersey senator trailed far behind the top-polling candidates, his campaign noted that over half of his Q4 fundraising total was from first-time donors.
In the press release announcing Booker's numbers, campaign manager Addisu Demissie's noted that Booker was able to accomplish this despite not qualifying for the December debate. Booker has criticized the qualifying process, even sending a letter signed by eight other candidates, calling for the DNC to return to less stringent qualifying criteria for the first debates of 2020.
The DNC rejected Booker's request, announcing higher thresholds for the Jan. 14 debate, and defended its qualifying process, but Booker has continued to warn of a lack of diversity among the candidates vying for the Democratic nomination.
"To put it bluntly, we’re still behind the fundraising of a field of predominantly white candidates who have been able to haul in significantly greater sums of money or tap into their personal fortunes to fund their campaigns," his campaign manager said in a statement.
He added that on the heels of former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro's decision to suspend his presidential bid Thursday, "We find ourselves at a juncture where what started out as the most diverse field of candidates running for president in our nation’s history is increasingly becoming one that does not reflect the rich diversity of our party and of our country."
Tulsi Gabbard has her best quarter yet
Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard raised $3.4 million in the fourth quarter, according to her campaign, outpacing her previous totals from the three earlier quarters of the year.
Last quarter, Gabbard raised $3 million, topping her previous two quarters of $1.9 million in the first quarter and $1.6 million in the second quarter. In the final weeks of the fourth quarter, she brought in $1.2 million to close out the year.
Michael Bennet marks a 209% burn rate
Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet raised $1.2 million and spent $2.58 million in the fourth quarter, marking a burn rate of 209%, his latest campaign disclosure report shows.
The senator ended the year with roughly $517,000 on hand.
Tom Steyer pours over $150 million out-of-pocket to his campaign
Another billionaire in the race, California activist Tom Steyer raised roughly $868,500 in the fourth quarter, his new campaign report shows. Similarly with Bloomberg, however, Steyer is funding his own campaign, dropping $155 million of his own money this quarter.
Steyer spent $153.7 million of that and ended the year with nearly $5.4 million cash on hand.
Deval Patrick releases first campaign report
Former two-term Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, who jumped into the race in mid November, reported raising $1.9 million through December, his first campaign disclosure filing shows.
Patrick also loaned himself $400,000, and spent $871,000, ending the quarter with roughly $1.4 million cash on hand.
Donald Trump raises $46 million, a record for his 2020 campaign
President Donald Trump continued to show off his campaign's fundraising prowess, raising a whopping $46 million in the fourth quarter and ending the year with over $102 million cash on hand, according to a press release from the campaign.
Campaign manager Brad Parscale partially credited impeachment, which has been a constant news story during the final quarter of the year, for the huge haul.
"Democrats and the media have been in a sham impeachment frenzy and the president’s campaign only got bigger and stronger with our best fundraising quarter this cycle," Parscale said in a statement. "The president’s war chest and grassroots army make his re-election campaign an unstoppable juggernaut."
During the past quarter, the Trump campaign has zeroed in on impeachment in advertisements and fundraising efforts, and Trump himself held multiple rallies where he railed against the House of Representatives' impeachment pursuit and the Democratic players leading it.
These figures don't include money raised by the Republican National Committee or any authorized joint fundraising committees.
ABC News' Averi Harper, Johnny Verhovek, Molly Nagle, Lissette Rodriguez, Beatrice Peterson, Sasha Pezenik, Cheyenne Haslett, Adam Kelsey and Will Steakin contributed to this report.
