4 takeaways from the presidential-campaign finance reports

Four takeaways from the first quarter of the 2020 campaign and where candidates stand.

Emily Wangen, Politics Reporter

The latest campaign-finance reports were released by the Federal Election Commission this week for the first quarter of the fiscal year (Jan. 1-March 31). Here are a few key takeaways on how the large field of presidential hopefuls stacked up.

Takeaway 1: Donald Trump (still) has a lot of money

While Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., may have had an impressive first quarter, the 2020 incumbent Donald Trump raised much more, having brought in $30.3 million for the period. Spending only 29 percent of the money raised this quarter, Trump will start quarter 2 with $40.76 million in the bank.

Takeaway 2: Mayor Pete knows how to save money

A common metric when looking at campaign-finance data is candidates’ burn rates, or the percent change from how much they raised in a given time period to how much money they are heading into the next period with. In other words, the burn rate is how much of the money raised was spent.

South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg came out of quarter one with the lowest burn rate, 9.6 percent, spending a little more than $500,000 and bringing in $7.09 million during quarter 1.

Some other frugal campaigners are Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., with burn rates of 19 and 21.0 percent, respectively. However, the amounts of money they brought in this period are different. Gillibrand brought in $12.6 million, and Klobuchar raised $8.83 million.

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Takeaway 3: Numbers can be deceptive

In case you have never perused the wonderful world that is the FEC website, there are different categories that fall under the umbrella of “receipts,” or how much money a candidate brought in during a given period. Alongside donations, there are several other categories that go into how much a candidate “raised” including personal donations from the candidate, transfers from other authorized committees or funds that candidates can move between other campaign committees they have, and loans.

A prime example of why it’s important to look a little deeper at the campaign-finance data is the John Delaney campaign. Delaney, a former U.S. representative from Maryland, brought in $18.29 million in quarter 1, which would put him in second place among Democrats in fundraising. Except — Delaney actually only raised a little under $2 million this quarter. The rest of the money comes from the $16.28 million in loans taken out and $110,506 in self-funding.

Candidates who drew funds the largest amount of funds from other authorized committees in quarter 1 are Elizabeth Warren ($10.42 million), Gillibrand ($9.6 million), and Klobuchar ($3.58 million).

Takeaway 4: Bernie didn’t forget how to raise money

In the 24 hours following Sanders’ announcement that he would run for president once again, he brought in around $6 million (a record that was beaten by former Rep. Beto O’Rourke of Texas) and continued to bring in serious cash. Sanders leads the pack in first-quarter fundraising, having brought in $20.69 million. He is also leading in cash on hand going into quarter 2 with $15.66 million. In Sanders’ last presidential-nomination bid, he brought in $237.64 million from April 1, 2015-Dec. 31, 2016.

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And a full breakdown:

Donald Trump
Raised: $30.3 million, $22.13 from other authorized committees
Spent: $8.83 million
Cash on Hand: $40.76 million

Andrew Yang
Raised: $1.78 million
Spent: $665,965, $7,862.01 in individual contribution refunds
Cash on Hand $1.15 million
Burn Rate: 35.4 percent

Amy Klobuchar
Raised: $8.83 million, $3.58 transferred from other authorized committees
Spent: $1.83 million, $15,589.85 in individual contribution refunds
Cash on Hand: $6.982 million
Burn rate: 21.0 percent

Beto O’Rourke
Raised: $9.37 million, $3400 of which coming from party committee contributions
Spending: $2.51 million, $61787 of which were individual contribution refunds
Cash on Hand: $6.90 million
Burn Rate: 26.8 percent burn rate

Bernie Sanders
Raised: $20.69 million, $2.5 million OAC
Spent: $5.03 million, $39,323.92 individual contribution refunds
Cash on Hand: $15.66 million
Burn rate: 24.3 percent

Cory Booker
Raised: $7.93 million, $2.72 other authorized committee
Spent: $1.79 million, $47,897.73 individual contribution refunds
Cash on hand: $6.13 million
Burn rate: 22.70 percent

Elizabeth Warren
Raised: $16.48 million, $10.42 from other authorized committees, $5,777.50 from herself
Spent: $5.27 million, $14,356.75 individual contribution refunds
Cash on Hand: $11.22 million
Burn Rate: 31.9 percent

Jay Inslee (started 2/14/2019)
Raised: $2.26 million
Spent: $843,775
Cash on Hand: $1.41 million
Burn Rate: 37.6 percent

John Delaney
Raised: $18.29 million, $110, 506 from self, $16.28 million from loans
Spent: $7.74 million, $63,237 individual contribution refunds
Ending Cash on Hand: $10.57 million
Burn Rate: 42.2 percent

John Hickenlooper
Raised: $2.02 million
Spent: $685,514, $13,882
Cash on Hand: $1.34 million
Burn Rate: 30 percent

Julián Castro
Raised: $1.1 million
Spent: $625,497
Cash on Hand $677,655, $10,739 in individual contribution refunds
Burn Rate: 36.4 percent

Kamala Harris
Raised: $13.24 million, $1.2 million from other authorized committees
Spent: $4.29 million, $154,346 in individual contribution refunds
Cash on Hand: $8.96 million
Burn Rate: 32.3 percent

Kirsten Gillibrand
Raised: $12.6 million, $9.6 from other authorized committees
Spent: $2.43 million, $26,051 in individual contribution refunds
Cash on Hand: $10.20 million
Burn Rate: 19 percent

Pete Buttigieg
Raised: $7.09 million
Spent: $685,295, $19,305 in individual contribution refunds
Cash on Hand: $6.41 million
Burn Rate: 9.6 percent

Tulsi Gabbard
Raised: $4.50 million, $2.5 million from other authorized committees
Spent: $1.71 million, $2,515 in individual contribution refunds
Cash on Hand: $2.79 million
Burn Rate: 38 percent from Texas, Beto O’Rourke) and continued to bring in serious cash. Sanders leads the pack in first quarter fundraising having brought in $20.69 million. He is also leading in Cash on Hand going into quarter two with $15.66 million. In Sanders’ last Presidential bid, he brought in $237.64 million from April 1, 2015- Dec. 31, 2016.