The Dave Brat campaign has just released fundraising figures for the period ending June 30, 2014. Two stunning numbers emerge.
First, Brat’s campaign has been raising money at a clip of $10,000 per day. That’s really healthy, especially for a non-incumbent. What’s more impressive is that the bulk of that came from nearly 4,700 individual donors, showing great strength and breadth of appeal. Obviously a lot of this has to do with public reaction nationwide to his defeat of Rep. Eric Cantor, but regardless of the “why,” this number shows that Brat hasn’t nearly tapped out on his donor base, and still has a lot of upside.
We’ve still got a good ways to go in this race, but if Brat can repeat over the next 40 days what he did over the last 40, this race won’t even be close. The total dollar figures, especially the cash on hand, aren’t staggering, but they’re enough to make the Democrats think twice about investing any significant additional sums in this heavily Republican district.
The full text of the release is below:
Dave Brat raises $400,000 in 40 days
– More than 90 percent came from individual donors –
RICHMOND, VA (July 15, 2014) – Republican candidate for Congress Dave Brat announced today that his campaign has raised nearly $400,000 in the 40 days ended June 30th, with the bulk of those dollars coming from 4673 individual donors.
Of the actual $399,660 raised from May 22 to the end of the reporting period on June 30th, $363,560 – or 91 percent – came from 4673 individuals. The figures are part of the candidate’s quarterly finance report due today at the Federal Election Commission.
The majority of all 4684 donors were small dollar contributors. 4402 donated $200 or less, while 271 contributors donated more than $200. Political committees, party committees, and PACs accounted for 11 contributions totaling $36,100.
“The response has been incredible. It has exceeded all expectations. I’m so grateful to the thousands of contributors who have supported us,” said Brat. “The huge number of smaller dollar contributors shows how much of a grassroots ‘campaign of the people’ this really is.”
He continued, “Our campaign issues are about changing Washington. Issues like terms limits, stopping out-of-control federal spending, repealing and replacing Obamacare, and securing our southern border have really struck a chord with voters of the Seventh District. As I talk to groups and travel door-to-door around the district, people are concerned about how much these issues affect jobs and the economy. Obamacare is causing businesses not to hire, it’s forcing people to go from full time to part time, and it has only led to higher health insurance costs. Our open borders and calls for amnesty are about politicians in Washington who are more interested in helping their crony capitalist buddies get cheap labor and drive down American wages than in helping immigrants. And Washington is running up our national credit card with out-of-control spending, sticking our kids and grandkids with a bill of $50,000 for every man, woman, and child. These are the issues that we’re going to continue to talk about.”
As of June 30th, Brat had raised $609,145 since the start of his campaign in January. As of June 30th, he had $218,873 cash on hand.
Not exactly the giant sucking sound with the departure of Eric Cantor’s fundraising, as some have feared. Looks like Brat will be able to more than hold his own.
