Biden rakes in $97 million in fourth-quarter haul

By Arlette Saenz, CNN

(CNN) — President Joe Biden raised more than $97 million for his presidential campaign and the Democratic Party in the fourth fundraising quarter last year as he readies a sizable campaign war chest to face off against a Republican opponent in November.

Biden’s reelection campaign, along with the Democratic Party, ended the year with $117 million, which the campaign notes is the highest cash-on-hand figure for any Democratic candidate at this point in the cycle.

The Biden campaign’s announcement marks the biggest fundraising haul of the president’s reelection bid and comes as Republicans are set to kick off their primary contests with the Iowa caucuses Monday evening. Biden has spent the start of 2024 ramping up his attacks on former President Donald Trump, who Biden’s advisers view as his likely opponent.

A CBS News/YouGov poll released Sunday found there is no clear leader in a hypothetical general election matchup between Biden and Trump, with 50% of likely voters backing the former president and 48% supporting the current one.

“This historic haul — proudly powered by strong and growing grassroots enthusiasm — sends a clear message: The Team Biden-Harris coalition knows the stakes of this election and is ready to win this November,” said Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez. 

Biden and the Democratic Party last quarter exceeded the $72 million and $71 million raised in the second and third quarters of 2023, respectively. And for the first time, Biden outraised the amount brought in by former President Barack Obama at the same point in the cycle. Obama raised $68 million in the fourth quarter of 2011, and Biden’s team had eyed a roughly $67 million target for last quarter. Donation limits have increased in the years since Obama’s reelection campaign, allowing Democrats to raise more money from individual donors.

Most Republican contenders, including Trump, have yet to reveal their figures for the fourth quarter — except former UN ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who raised $24 million in the October-December period. Candidates have until January 31 to file their quarterly finance reports with the Federal Election Commission. Biden outpaced all GOP candidates in fundraising in the third quarter of the year.

The fundraising haul comes despite some signs of strains within parts of Biden’s coalition. The president’s advisers have long argued they will have enough money to run a competitive race, pointing to their ability to raise money for the general election early on while Republicans have spent their resources in primary battles. Biden’s campaign maintained a small footprint for most of 2023 and is expected to ramp up its operations in the coming months with the expectation of running at “full steam” by early summer.

Biden’s team held a total of 39 fundraisers during the fourth quarter, with Biden himself bringing in over $15 million from high-dollar donors during a December fundraising sprint. But his team also is crediting its grassroots network with boosting its campaign war chest. Campaign officials said December marked their highest grassroots fundraising month since the reelection launch in April, breaking the record set one month prior in November.

The campaign said the average grassroots donation was $41.88 in the fourth quarter and 97% of all donations were under $200. The campaign did not detail the exact amount raised by small-dollar donors, but will provide that information when it files its report with the FEC by the end of the month.

More than 130,000 donors have committed to making monthly donations, twice the number Biden saw at this point in 2020. The campaign also grew its active subscriber email list by 15% from the start of the third quarter to the end of fourth quarter. More than 520,000 donors, hailing from all 50 states, made over 926,000 contributions across all entities during the October-December period, the campaign said.

Biden’s team said online fundraising contests and counterprogramming efforts around GOP debates and Trump events helped fuel its grassroots fundraising. A “Cup of Joe” online contest to meet Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris raised more than $3 million, marking the campaign’s most successful contest to date.

The campaign said interest from small-dollar donors grew over the course of the quarter as the GOP primary contests narrowed. Biden’s team raised three times more around debate and Trump counterprogramming efforts in December than it did with debate content in October, the campaign said.

Biden’s campaign has benefited from a joint fundraising agreement that allows the president to raise money for his reelection bid, the Democratic National Committee and state parties. The breakdown of money raised by each entity is expected to be included in FEC filings later this month.

“The Biden-Harris campaign and the DNC are working as one team with a single mission: to build a winning campaign that has the resources to send Joe Biden and Kamala Harris back to the White House, and elect Democrats up and down the ballot,” said DNC Chair Jaime Harrison.

The-CNN-Wire
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