Presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke brought in more than $6.1 million in online contributions in the first 24 hours after announcing his candidacy last week, narrowly coming ahead of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who brought in $5.9 million in his first 24 hours.
O'Rourke's campaign said the money came entirely through online contributions from all 50 states, according to The New York Times. Sen. Sanders, meanwhile, went on to raise $10 million before the first week of his campaign wrapped up.
There had been some questions about whether some of the same grassroots donors who contributed heavily to O'Rourke's unsuccessful campaign against Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, would back him in a presidential bid, but his first-day tally raised about a fourth of what former President Barack Obama, during his first campaign, raised in the entire first quarter of 2007.
O'Rourke and Sanders, along with the widening group of Democratic candidates, must file fundraising reports by the end of March, with the filings to be made public April 15.
Most of the other Democratic candidates have not publicized their own first financial tallies, except for Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., whose campaign said she raised $1.5 million the first day after she announced her candidacy in January.
O'Rourke's campaign did not say what the average contribution was, or how many total donors pledged their support. O'Rourke, like when he ran for the Senate, has not accepted money from political action committees.
He spent three days in Iowa after announcing his candidacy before heading to Wisconsin while on a tour of several Midwest states.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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