Trump serves as rocket fuel for Democratic fundraising
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/trump-democrats-fundraising-236619
Trump serves as rocket fuel for Democratic fundraising
Angry small donors plow millions into campaigns.
By Gabriel Debenedetti and Scott Bland
03/29/17 05:11 AM EDT
Trump is the gift that keeps on giving, said California Rep. Tony Cardenas, chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus BOLD PAC, which raised at least $555,000 online in February more than it collected from individual donors during the entire first quarter of last year. | AP Photo
Democrats are on a torrid fundraising pace in the first months of the Donald Trump era, powered by enraged small donors who are plowing millions of dollars worth of online contributions into campaign and committee treasuries.
A POLITICO analysis of new federal disclosures suggests many Democratic Senate incumbents particularly those who have been most outspoken in their resistance to Trump are on a trajectory to raise more money online than ever before in a non-election year. That could help level the fundraising playing field at a time when Republicans are poised to reap the financial rewards of holding all the levers of power in Washington.
While comprehensive campaign finance data for both parties in the first quarter of 2017 wont be released until next month, February figures reported to the Federal Election Commission by ActBlue, the left-leaning online fundraising platform, suggests both members of Congress and many progressive groups are harnessing the energy of town halls and marches and translating it into a surge of online fundraising well in advance of the 2018 election season.
Jon Ossoff, the Democratic candidate for an open House seat in Georgia, raised nearly $2.1 million online last month for his April special election. Thats more than Tom Price, the Republican who held the seat until his appointment as HHS Secretary, spent over the course of his entire 2016 campaign.
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Small donors, however, have stepped into the void, enabling many Democrats to bust through their online goals in recent weeks particularly when the Trump administration has high-profile missteps or moments that have captured the countrys attention.