Ben Carson’s campaign confirmed raising $20 million over the last three months, nearly doubling their take from the first quarter. Carson, who moved up to third place in the Washington Examiner‘s power rankings, has raised over $31 million since he announced his candidacy in May.
Carson is the first GOP candidate to announce his money haul. During a campaign stop in New Hampshire on Wednesday, the famed neurosurgeon bashed special interest groups and praised his campaign contributors.
“This is a campaign of, for and by the people and I’ve made it very clear that I’m not going after the billionaires, the special interest groups,” Carson told the crowd in New Castle, N.H. “I’m not licking anybody’s boots and I’m not going to be beholden to a bunch of special interest groups. There’s only one special interest group that I’m interested in and that’s the American people.”
Carson has been on a hot streak ever since the candidates began debating. In the nearly two months since the Aug. 6 Fox News debate, Carson has pulled to near the top of the GOP field, with only real estate mogul Donald Trump leading him nationally and in Iowa, according to the latest RealClearPolitics averages.
Barry Bennett, Carson campaign manager, says the 2016 hopeful’s third quarter haul is a shot across the bow at the establishment candidates.
“Sooner or later, they’ll have to realize there’s a new reality or they’ll pay the price,” Bennett said Wednesday. “The outsiders are not going away.”
However, Bennett did not discuss the campaign’s burn rate, as they had churned through most of their donor money quicker than any other campaign, according to Federal Election Commission filings in June.
Over the past week and a half, the former Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon has been repeatedly asked about his comment that he would not advocate for a Muslim president. However, while nearly every one of his 2016 opponents disagreed with the remarks, his fundraising received a jolt.
“The money has been coming in so fast, it’s hard to even keep up with it,” Carson told Fox News last Wednesday. “I remember the day of the last debate, within 24 hours we raised $1 million. And it’s coming in at least at that rate if not quite a bit faster.”
All third quarter filings with the FEC will be released on Oct. 15.
