Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is benefiting from wealthy donors, even as she attacks Democratic front-runner Joe Biden’s big money fundraising operation.
The reason is that the seed money from her presidential campaign came from transferring $10.4 million from her 2018 Senate campaign, which was bolstered by high-value fundraisers.
The Philadelphia Inquirer highlighted the fact that Warren has gone after Biden on the fundraising issue. “How did Joe Biden raise so much money in one day? Well, it helps that he hosted a swanky private fundraiser for wealthy donors at the home of the guy who runs Comcast’s lobbying shop,” Warren wrote to supporters. She has also disavowed “fancy private fundraising events” declaring “our democracy is not for sale, and neither is my time.”
Yet the Inquirer reports:
Each drew some of the same people who donated $2,800 apiece to attend Biden’s April event at the home of Comcast Executive Vice President David L. Cohen.
For example, former Gov. Ed Rendell and Center City law partner Stephen Cozen were two of the main organizers for Biden’s Philadelphia fund-raiser, and were also listed as hosts for the Warren event at law firm Berger Montague on March 12, 2018.
The Warren event sought donations of up to $5,400, the maximum allowed that year.
Though Warren’s campaign is trying to draw a distinction between the 2020 presidential primary and the 2018 Senate campaign, it’s impossible to ignore the importance of those Senate funds.
Last month, CNN reported that Warren had hired more than 170 full-time staff, gearing up for a long battle for the nomination. She burnt through $5.2 million in the first quarter building up her operation, or nearly all of the $6 million she raised. Yet that was manageable, because she transferred the $10.4 million from her Senate campaign.
So even if she swears off big money fundraisers during the nomination battle, funds raised from wealth donors will have still provided her with a nice cash cushion, allowing up to invest heavily in her campaign early on.
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