2020 campaign second-quarter fundraising totals released

Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke, once a fundraising leader among Democratic candidates, collected $3.6 million during the second quarter of the year, pushing him into the lower tier. A look at the standings:

The fundraising leaders:

Everyone else:

Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke, who shattered fundraising records in his near-miss Senate campaign in 2018, raised just $3.6 million during the second fundraising quarter, his campaign announced Monday night.

The haul is just a fraction of the $9.4 million O’Rourke collected in the first 18 days of his presidential bid and comes as his standing in the polls has tumbled in recent weeks.

O’Rourke ranked in third place in fundraising after the first three months of the year. He now trails well behind his leading Democratic rivals, such as South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, in fundraising.

Elizabeth Warren dramatically improved her fundraising in the second quarter, hauling in $19.1 million -- more than triple what she raised in the first quarter -- and ending the period with over $19.7 million in cash on hand, her second quarter report shows.

And despite spending $10.6 million in just three months, more than twice as much as she spent last quarter, Warren’s strong fundraising left her with a burn rate of just 55%. The campaign, which has invested heavily in staff and field operations, spent at least $2.6 million on salaries during the quarter.

Small-dollar donors accounted for about 66% of Warren’s individual contributions, but she received high-dollar contributions from some famous names as well. Hollywood powerhouse Shonda Rhimes and actress Jane Fonda, most recently of Netflix's "Grace and Frankie" fame, each gave Warren $2,800, the filing shows.

Warren imposed strict fundraising rules on her campaign: The Massachusetts senator has said she won’t participate in fundraising calls or high-dollar fundraising events that typically provide the biggest checks.

We have some new numbers to share for Democratic presidential contenders, as campaign announce their totals or file reports with the Federal Election Commission.

Here’s how they stack up, with some new additions in bold:

The fundraising leaders:

Everyone else:

New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker’s campaign on Monday said the Democrat raised more than $4.5 million between April and June for his presidential bid – a number that puts him behind the fundraising leaders in the Democratic field.

Booker’s second-quarter haul represents a dip from the $5 million he raised during the first three months of the year.

Booker started July with nearly $5.4 million remaining in the bank and has hired 19 staffers in two crucial primary states, Nevada and South Carolina, his campaign said. The senator long has had a substantial presence in Iowa, which kicks off the primary contests next February.

In its news release, his campaign touted the number of new contributors Booker added to his campaign, saying 72,000 had joined his donor ranks during the second quarter of the year.

Attracting thousands of unique donors from around the country is among the criteria – along with polling – for candidates to qualify for the debate stage. Booker’s campaign said he’s closing in on the 130,000 donor-threshold established for the Democratic Party’s debate in September. His aides say he already has qualified for the debate stage via polling criteria.

“In February, we set out to build a grassroots campaign fueled by small donations,” Addisu Demissie, Booker’s campaign manager, said in a statement.“We're proud of the tremendous progress we've made towards that goal and are happy that we have the resources we need to continue investing in our growing organizing effort.”

Author Marianne Williamson raised $1.5 million for her presidential campaign in the second quarter of 2019, placing her toward the bottom of the Democratic field.

Williamson’s numbers were basically flat compared to the previous quarter, when she also raised $1.5 million. The campaign spent about as much as it raised in the period, $1.5 million, and will enter the third quarter with just under $550,000 in cash on hand.

Small-dollar donors accounted for about 70% of the funds that Williamson raised from individual contributions.

Williamson tweeted Monday that she needed 46,000 more individual donors to meet the fundraising requirement for the third primary debate in September -- set at 130,000 -- meaning her campaign had around 84,000 donors as of her filing.

Here’s a quick update on how the second-quarter fundraising stacks up for Democratic presidential candidates, based on campaign releases and early Federal Election Commission filings. Some candidates haven’t disclosed their fundraising totals yet.

One thing is clear: The crowded field has divided into two tiers.

The fundraising leaders:

Everyone else:

Former Maryland Rep. John Delaney continued to boost his campaign with his personal fortune in the second quarter of 2019, lending $7.75 million to his bid.

It was necessary: Delaney raised just under $285,000 during the period, with just over $71,000 coming from small dollar donors, both among the lowest totals posted by the 2020 Democratic field.

Delaney also spent heavily, with nearly $11.2 million in expenditures. He ended the quarter with more than $7.4 million in cash on hand, enough to stay in the race. But with lackluster fundraising, he’s a long-shot to make the third primary debate stage, and he will likely have to continue to use his personal wealth to sustain his campaign long-term.

Delaney had already lent or given his campaign a total of $16.2 million before this latest second-quarter infusion.

Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper raised about $1.1 million during the second quarter and ended the fundraising period with just $836,000 cash on hand, numbers that put him at the bottom of the Democratic field.

Hickenlooper spent ($1.6 million) more than he raised during the period, for an effective burn rate of 143%. Hickenlooper also raised less than a quarter of his Q2 funds from small dollar donors.

CNN reported earlier this month that Hickenlooper was shaking up his campaign after so far failing to gain traction in the race. While the former Colorado governor maintains he is staying in the race, Democrats close to Hickenlooper, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he intends to reassess after the Detroit debate.