Pete Buttigieg’s presidential campaign raised $24.7 million in the final quarter of 2019, bringing his total for the year to $76 million and solidifying his status in the Democratic presidential field as a formidable fundraiser.
“We did not have the fundraising lists of a Washington politician or someone who had run for president before. We certainly did not have a candidate who had the personal wealth of a millionaire or billionaire,” Buttigieg campaign manager Mike Schmuhl said in an email to supporters Wednesday.
Buttigieg, who leaves his position as mayor of South Bend, Indiana, at noon on Wednesday, started his campaign unknown on the national stage. After heavy media attention on the mayor, a married, gay Harvard graduate and Afghanistan Navy Reserve veteran, Buttigieg shot up in national polls and outraised the rest of the crowded Democratic presidential field in the second quarter of the year, when he pulled in $24.8 million.
Buttigieg’s fourth quarter haul is an improvement from the July through September third quarter period, when he raised $19.1 million. Other candidates have not yet announced their fourth quarter fundraising totals. Campaigns must report those figures to the Federal Election Commission by Jan. 15.
Though his fundraising success has secured Buttigieg’s place as a serious candidate, he has faced criticism for attending high-dollar fundraising events with wealthy donors. In the December Democratic presidential debate, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren scolded him for a fundraiser that took place in a California wine cave, which had a crystal chandelier and $900 bottles of wine.
The campaign did not report its cash-on-hand going into the new year, which will partially dictate how much it can devote to staff and advertising expenses during early state nominating contests in the first two months of the year.
The campaign said it had 326,000 individual donors from October through the end of December. For all of 2019, the campaign had 733,000 donors and an average donation size of $33.62.
“What’s clear is Pete has the appeal, message, and leadership to build a winning organization to not only secure the nomination, but also defeat Donald Trump in a general election,” Schmuhl said.
The Buttigieg campaign enters 2020 with 65 field offices across the country and 100 field organizers in Iowa, the state that will hold the first Democratic Party nominating contest on Feb. 3. The campaign currently employs more than 500 people nationwide.
