Marco Rubio Raised More Than $12 Million; Slightly More Than Bush

The presidential campaign of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) is reporting raising more than $12 million through the end of June, slightly more than the $11.4 million reported by the campaign of Rubio’s fellow Floridian, former Governor Jeb Bush (R-FL).

Of the $12 million Rubio raised, $2.2 million was contributed by more than 12,000 Floridians, as reported by Politico’s Marc Caputo. An email sent by the Rubio campaign early Monday morning touted that contributions had come in from “all 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.” Out of the early primary states, Rubio donors came from 76 of Iowa’s 99 counties, 11 of Nevada’s 17 counties, 43 of South Carolina’s 46 counties, and all 10 of New Hampshire’s counties.

The campaign email also noted that just over $1 million of Rubio’s $12 million was raised by 32,207 donors who gave less than $100 each. The median donation was $50, and the most frequent donation was $25.

These numbers are significant for two main reasons. First, campaigns that bring in a large number of small donations often claim that as a sign of grassroots support, and second, with so many donors who are still below the federal donation limit of $2,700 ($5,400 for couples), there still remains a lot of fundraising capacity among Rubio’s supporters.

Bush remains the frontrunner in the overall fundraising race, raising over $100 million through a super PAC and a leadership PAC, but Rubio posted respectable numbers in the PAC money game too. As Breitbart News reported, two Super PACs supporting Rubio raised nearly $32 million.

All together, Rubio’s campaign and the PACs raised a total of $44 million, placing him third behind Bush and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who raised $51.2 million, $14.2 million through his campaign and $37 million through four Super PACs. Former Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) released his fundraising numbers Friday, raising a respectable $17.8 million, over $1 million by the campaign and $16.8 million by three super PACs.

Rubio is currently ranked fourth in the Real Clear Politics Average of the latest national polls for the Republican presidential nomination, behind Bush, Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI), and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson.

Follow Sarah Rumpf on Twitter @rumpfshaker.