Warren campaign says it raised $6 million in first quarter of 2019

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) raised $6 million for her presidential bid in the first three months of 2019, her campaign said Wednesday. 

Warren ended the first quarter of the year with more than $11 million in the bank, much of it coming from her Senate campaign account.

The Massachusetts Democrat raked in more than 213,000 contributions from over 135,000 individuals, with an average donation size of just $28, campaign manager Roger Lau said in an email to supporters.{mosads}

A large portion of the total first-quarter haul — $1.4 million — was raised in the final week before books closed for the quarter, Lau said.

The fundraising haul fell well short of those of several other candidates, including Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas). Notably, Warren was the first among that group to announce her presidential intentions, giving her the most time to raise campaign cash.

The $6 million fundraising total means that Warren raised an average of roughly $67,000 per day, less than virtually every other high-profile candidate in the race.

But there are still bright spots for Warren.

She is among the only candidates in the race to swear off campaign cash from political action committees (PACs) entirely, and has also vowed to forego high-dollar fundraisers and contributions from federal lobbyists, allowing her to tout the first-quarter total as the result of unbridled grassroots enthusiasm.

“Grassroots donations are the only reason Elizabeth can keep setting the tone for this race with substance and determination for big structural change,” Lau wrote in his email. “With your support, from organizing events across the country to the debate stage starting in June, she’ll keep laying out plans to tackle the root causes of why it’s gotten harder and harder for working people to get ahead.”

She also outraised Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), who brought in $5 million and $5.2 million, respectively, in the first quarter of the year.

Still, the number is short of where many Democrats initially thought Warren would be in the money race, underscoring the difficult race she faces, especially competing against more prolific small-dollar fundraisers like O’Rourke and Sanders.

Warren’s early fundraising total also fell short of that of South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, a relative unknown until recent weeks, who reported raising roughly $7 million in the first quarter.

Warren’s campaign was already seeking to manage expectations about her fundraising upon announcing the 2020 hopeful’s first quarter figures. In his email to supporters, Lau encouraged them to “look at the number of grassroots donors” over the total amount raised.

“I won’t sugarcoat it: We were outraised by some other candidates in the presidential primary this first quarter,” he wrote.

“You might have seen some of the big numbers in the headlines, from $7 million to $18 million. Here’s a tip: Take a look at the number of grassroots donors — and donations — that candidates report.”

Candidates have until April 15 to file their first-quarter fundraising reports with the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

Updated 3:01 p.m.