Yang brings in $16.5 million in fourth quarter

Democratic presidential hopeful Andrew Yang’s campaign said on Thursday that it raised $16.5 million during the fourth quarter of 2019. 

The latest haul exceeds Yang’s third-quarter fundraising total by $6.5 million. 

The campaign said 400,000 donors have made more than 1 million contributions since Yang announced his candidacy. 

His campaign revealed on New Year’s Eve that it raked in $4 million during the last week of December after setting a goal of raising $3 million. 

The haul could provide a boost to Yang ahead of the crucial Iowa caucuses. He will begin a four-day bus tour in the Hawkeye State on Friday. 

Yang, who has outlasted a number of senators and governors in the race, is trying to break out of the crowded Democratic field’s mid-tier. 

He has qualified for all of the primary debates so far and is running in seventh place in the RealClearPolitics polling average of presidential candidates.

However, Yang has an uphill climb against the race’s top tier in terms of fundraising. 

Sen. Bernie Sanders‘s (I-Vt.) campaign on Thursday announced a massive fundraising haul of more than $34.5 million in the fourth quarter, while former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg‘s campaign said it raked in more than $24.7 million during the same period.