Joe Biden Says He Raised $22.7 Million in the Fourth Quarter

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January 3, 2020 1:02 AM

WASHINGTON — Joe Biden said Thursday that he had raised $22.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2019, a significant improvement from his lackluster fundraising performance in the previous three months.

Joe Biden Says He Raised $22.7 Million in the Fourth Quarter

Biden’s total, for the period from October through December, far exceeded the $15.7 million that he had raised during the third quarter. It was his largest quarterly haul so far, exceeding the $22 million he brought in during the second quarter.

But Biden’s fourth-quarter total was much smaller than that of Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, whose campaign announced earlier Thursday that it had raised more than $34.5 million in the quarter. Biden also lagged behind Pete Buttigieg, whose campaign revealed Wednesday that it had brought in more than $24.7 million.

Still, Biden’s fundraising rebound offered a reassuring sign for his supporters as the Democratic primary race heads into the final weeks before the Iowa caucuses in early February.

Biden, the former vice president, continues to lead national primary polls, but he has faced lingering doubts about enthusiasm for his candidacy, especially from grassroots donors. Those doubts had been exacerbated by his weak performance in the third quarter, when his campaign spent $2 million more than it took in. He ended that period with far less cash on hand than Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts or Buttigieg.

Biden’s grassroots strength still lags far behind some of his rivals, such as Sanders, whose campaign said it received more than 1.8 million individual donations in the quarter.

Unlike Sanders and Warren, Biden is relying on the traditional fundraising circuit to raise money for his campaign, in addition to what he collects from grassroots donors. Last week, Biden released a list of more than 200 people who had raised at least $25,000 for his campaign.

In October, Biden’s campaign effectively dropped its opposition to receiving the assistance of super PACs, and a pro-Biden group, Unite the Country, is running television ads in Iowa supporting him.

The Biden campaign had already boasted of its fundraising rebound, announcing in early December that it had raised as much money in the first two months of the fourth quarter as it had during the entire previous quarter.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times .

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