Clinton, Bush Among Campaign Big Spenders

Hillary Rodham Clinton has outraised her fellow Democratic candidates in the 2016 campaign and has collected more big-dollar contributions than any other candidate in either party in 26 states.

An Associated Press review finds that Republican Ben Carson was the second-best fundraiser in 10 states among those who gave at least $200 this election cycle. Carson spent heavily to raise that sum, burning through $14 million, more than any other Republican.

Clinton’s campaign said it raised $28 million in the three months ending September 30.

O’Malley didn’t raise enough cash, $1.3 million, to cover his expenses, $1.8 million, and had to tap into his reserves.

Among those who have yet to share their fundraising information is GOP front-runner Donald Trump, the rich real-estate dealmaker whose mild forays into fundraising include selling his trademark “Make America Great Again” hats.

Carly Fiorina gets bragging rights as well with $6.8 million, more than Rubio raised.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich raised $4.4 million in his first two and a half months as a presidential candidate, trailing the third-quarter fundraising of almost all his rivals for the GOP nomination.

A breakdown in spending provided by the campaign shows Carson’s campaign spent over $2.6 million on “direct mail prospecting” alone, a highly lucrative but expensive form of fundraising.

Clinton led all the 2016 candidates, with $29.9 million raised. Marco Rubio (Fla.), with $6 million.

‘Thanks to the support of all of our donors, we are on track to hit our goal of $100 million during the primary, ‘ campaign manager Robby Mook said. Ted Cruz, whose campaign raised $12.2 million in the third quarter and ended the month with $13.5 million in the bank. For those with little money and only single-digit support in polling, the absence of any big bounce will heighten calls for them to exit. Bush had emerged as the GOP’s fundraising leader when he entered the contest in mid-June, raising $11.4 million over a roughly two-week period, or more than $714,000 a day. Carson said he raised $1 million within 24 hours of his appearance at a Republican debate in September, and that donations poured in at a similar rate later in the month when he declared that a Muslim shouldn’t be president.

In the GOP presidential race, the perception forming is that only half a dozen candidates are competitive. After a record-breaking spring on the fundraising circuit, her cash intake over the summer barely kept pace with her spending, a reflection of the cost of maintaining the largest campaign infrastructure in either party. Ben Carson, Bernie Sanders, and Ted Cruz are turning their popularity with their parties’ grassroots into cash, piled up in smaller increments, often over the Internet. Thursday was the deadline for federal candidates to disclose how they raised and spent campaign contributions during the July-to-September fundraising quarter. Only 17 percent of Clinton’s donations – $13 million – came from small donors, according to her forms.

“I thought I’d have spent about $20, $25 million dollars up until this point”.

Here’s a look at what we know so far about the state of presidential campaign finance in the third quarter, and what we expect to learn when the candidates’ official reports are filed with the Federal Election Commission.

Sanders is poised to raise as much or more in through the end of the year. The campaign says it definitely isn’t a big deal that Carson, now in second place in the polls, is trying to sell books and make money for himself while a campaign is going on. “We’re doing fine”, Christie recently said during a swing through New Hampshire. “I’m proud of what we did in the third quarter fundraising, which is always a really hard quarter given the summer and everything else”. Since Rubio and Bush come from a similar political background and are fighting over numerous same Establishment donors, the two are starting to get annoyed at each other. He also received the maximum-allowed $2,700 from billionaire hedge fund manager Leon Cooperman.

Carson’s aides explain away his unorthodox campaign schedule as an asset – they note that he’s an outsider candidate, who’s never before run for office and so won’t be running the way typical politicians do.

However, warned Common Cause researcher Jay Riestenberg on Friday, “The question now for Sanders and [Republican candidate Ben] Carson is how long they can remain competitive when their opponents are collecting and stockpiling million-dollar checks in supposedly “independent” super PACs and politically active non-profit groups, both of which can accept unlimited gifts from individuals, groups and corporations”.