With the second quarter fundraising reporting deadline approaching Saturday, several 2024 GOP hopefuls have already announced their totals — providing a glimpse at the strength of their respective campaigns.
Candidates must file their July quarterly with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) by end of day on Saturday, and for several candidates, this will be the first financial indicator of their candidacies ahead of the first presidential debate in August.
The campaigns of former President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, former Vice President Mike Pence, and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez have already announced their Q2 totals.
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“The F.E.C. reports are the M.R.I. scan of a campaign,” Mike Murphy, a GOP strategist, told The New York Times. “It’s the next-best thing to breaking into the headquarters and checking the files.”
Burgum is the only Republican presidential candidate so far who has filed his second quarter totals with the FEC, reporting that he raised $11.7 million. The governor gave his own campaign approximately $10.2 million, raised $1.5 million from outside contributors and has about $3.7 million cash on hand.
Trump and his joint fundraising committee, the “Save America PAC,” brought in a combined $35 million during the third fundraising quarter of his third presidential campaign, they reported July 5. DeSantis reported on July 6 to have raised $20 million, but combined with Never Back Down, the super PAC supporting his candidacy, the campaign totaled $150 million since his campaign launched in late May.
Haley and aligned super PAC SFA Fund, Inc., raised $26 million during her second quarter as a presidential candidate, they announced Monday. Scott and super PAC, Trust In The Mission (TIM PAC), said Wednesday that they raised a total of approximately $25.4 million, and Scott reported having $21 million cash on hand since his late May campaign announcement.
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“The most important number is cash on hand, minus debt,” Murphy told the NYT. “You see how much financial firepower they actually have.”
Pence and his super PAC, Committed to America, reported Friday to have raised a combined $3.85 million during the first fundraising quarter of his campaign.
Suarez announced Friday that his campaign raised $1 million since his mid-June presidential launch. He then added that, combined with the super PACs supporting his White House bid, the campaign topped $13.6 million.
The campaigns of former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, former Texas Rep. Will Hurd, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and conservative radio personality Larry Elder have not yet released their second quarter totals.
President Joe Biden’s campaign announced it raised over $72 million during the first fundraising quarter of his reelection campaign, outpacing all of the GOP hopefuls’ Q2 totals. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. filed his second quarter totals with the FEC on Friday, bringing his campaign to approximately $6.37 million with $4.5 million cash on hand since his April campaign launch.
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The campaigns’ second quarter totals won’t be fully known until after all of the candidates report to the FEC by the Saturday deadline as super PACs file by the end of the month, according to the NYT. The number of individual contributors also won’t be included in the filings, which is crucial for Republican candidates who have to meet the Republican National Committee’s 40,000 unique donor threshold to make the debate stage in August.
“Nobody stops running for president because they think their ideas are no longer good enough, or they’re not qualified,” Terry Sullivan, a Republican strategist, told the NYT. “People stop running for president for one reason, and one reason only: It’s because they run out of money.”
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