Marco Rubio’s presidential campaign still had a good deal of money in the bank when he ended his campaign last week.
The Florida senator had $5.5 million on hand at the close of February, according to Federal Election Commission forms released Sunday. After beginning the month with $5 million, Rubio’s campaign received over $9.5 million in donations, doubling what he received in January. He spent just under $9.2 million over 29 days.
Rubio also received over $3 million in small donations of $200 or less, his largest single-month draw, which suggested his grassroots appeal was on the rise.
While the candidate’s campaign fundraising was going strong, Rubio reported being $1 million in debt, owing money to telemarketing, media production, web services and strategic consulting firms.
The GOP establishment embraced Rubio, but rival Donald Trump’s commanding delegate lead in the Republican nomination race forced the senator out of the race Tuesday after he lost his home state’s primary to Trump.
Of the remaining GOP candidates in the 2016 field, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz had the most on hand, earning nearly $12 million in February. He ended February with $8 million, and dropped from the $13.6 with which he began the month.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich raised $3.4 million in February. He ended the month with $1.2 million on hand, breaking about even.
Trump’s campaign had a scant $1.3 million on hand by the end of the month, after raising $9.2 million in February, but the billionaire businessman has repeatedly said that he is self funding his campaign. He has loaned his campaign over $24 million, including $6.8 million in February alone. Trump’s campaign says the candidate will not repay himself with money raised during the campaign.
Meanwhile on the Democratic side of the race, Bernie Sanders beat Hillary Clinton in fundraising for the second month in a row.
Sanders raised $43.5 million, a haul largely fueled by small donations, and ended the month with $17.2 million on hand. Clinton had more money in the bank by month’s end: $30.8 million. She raised $30.1 million the entire month. Sixty-two percent of Sanders’ donations came from small donations of $200 or less, while about a third of Clinton’s were small donors.
