Carly Fiorina raises $1.4 million

Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina has raised $1.4 million since launching her bid for the Republican presidential nomination in May, her campaign announced Monday.

Her total pales in comparison to the two other GOP presidential hopefuls who have already announced their second quarter fundraising hauls, Dr. Ben Carson and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).

Carson announced Wednesday that he raised more than $8.3 million in the second quarter and has pulled in $10.5 million overall since he announced his exploratory committee back in March. Cruz raised $10 million in the second quarter, and his campaign has raised $14.2 million this year.

{mosads}The Fiorina campaign argued that the former Hewlett-Packard CEO “was not building the political infrastructure that other presidential candidates spend years (or generations) to cultivate.”

“And yet, even without a ready-made machine, we have seen enormous fundraising success,” campaign manager Frank Sadler said.

“Carly wasn’t growing an email or a direct mail list until May 4, but in less than two months, we’ve seen huge success in our low dollar fundraising efforts and enormous increases in engagement on social media,” Sadler continued. “We won’t raise as much as others at this early stage of our campaign, but we will raise what we need to go the distance.”

The super-PAC CARLY For America announced its donation figures a few hours after Fiorina, noting that it raised $3.4 million since its creation. 

“We are well on our way to meeting the budget we laid out at the beginning and are thankful to have the support of so many people from across the country,” Steve DeMaura, executive director of CARLY for America, said in a statement.

Fiorina currently stands in 12th place in the GOP field, according to the Real Clear Politics average of polls, and is fighting for one of the final spots on the debate stage next month in Cleveland, where the number of participants will be capped at 10.

The Fiorina campaign says momentum is on their side. Sadler said in the fundraising release that in appearances in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, she gets “more standing ovations and longer lines than any other candidate in the field.”

They say Fiorina has room to grow, with polls showing her support growing as her name recognition has increased in the early voting states.

“She now consistently ranks among the top 10 Republican presidential contenders,” Sadler said. “Recent polling from CNN/WMUR found that Carly is tied for fifth place in New Hampshire, edging out Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, Rick Perry and Chris Christie among others.”