Jeb Bush Raises $11.4 Mil In Presidential Campaign’s 1st 16 Days

Mr Bush, a former Florida governor, personally raised money for the super PAC – often in increments of $US1 million per donor – at dozens of events during the U.S. winter and spring, operating under the assumption that he was free to do so because he was not yet a declared presidential candidate.

It’s a strategy untested in modern politics. Right to Rise is run out of Los Angeles by longtime Bush political adviser Mike Murphy. Charlie Spies, the PAC’s treasurer and general counsel, said it had raised more than $103 million from January 6 to June 30. “Only Washington Democrats could be out-of-touch enough to criticize giving more Americans the ability to work, earn a paycheck, and make ends meet”, a Bush aide said in a statement.

$98 million: The amount of cash Right to Rise now has on hand.

So far in the second fiscal quarter, Bush has raised an average of $760,000 per day compared to $570,000 for Clinton.

Bush’s presidential campaign committee reported collecting $11.4 million in the first 16 days of his bid for the White House, according to a post on Twitter by his campaign. The quandary shows how much campaign fundraising has changed since Bush’s brother and father were president. For perspective, President George W. Bush raised a total of $50 million in the fall of 2003, a year before he was re-elected. Having made its mark in the big-money chase, the Bush campaign is focusing now on finding and cultivating small donors – people who would chip in $25 or so a few times over the Internet. But the rapid influx of super PAC money suggests that the Republican Party could be in for a particularly long and bloody nomination fight, one that could drag on well into next year. Senator Ted Cruz, who was the first major candidate to announce his campaign on March 23, said he has $14.2 million in his official campaign.

Among Democrats, Hillary Clinton’s campaign said it was on track to raise about $45 million, without super-PAC totals. It will officially report its fundraising figures to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) later this month. The group has also inquired with broadcast and cable stations in the early primary states about booking TV ad time.

By raising more than 0 million in just the first six months of the presidential campaign, Bush has set a new standard and is showing how certain candidates can exploit the loose regulation of fundraising following the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision.

After facing the criticism, Bush said that “You can take it out of context all you want, but high-sustained growth means that people work 40 hours rather than 30 hours and that by our success, they have money”.

In a conference call with top donors that a BuzzFeed reporter listened in on last month, a top super-PAC official said the outfit planned to run a positive campaign in support of Bush.