Pete Buttigieg Strengthens Fundraising Efforts, Expected to More Than Double First Quarter Numbers

Democrat presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg is massively strengthening fundraising efforts and is expected to more than double his first quarter earnings in the second quarter, exceeding $15 million.

Recent polls show the South Bend, Indiana, mayor consistently landing in the second tier of Democrat candidates. The latest Real Clear Politics numbers show Buttigieg in fourth place, averaging 7.2 percent. He finds himself right behind Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who has seen a recent surge in the polls and finds herself trailing Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) with 10.2 percent support.

Buttigieg is not too far off and is beefing up fundraising efforts big time for the second quarter. His campaign determined to more than double its first quarter earnings of $7 million. The $7 million came from 158,550 total donors, with about 64 percent of those coming from donations of less than $200.

The new goal is $15 million, and his campaign is expected to exceed that goal, according to a number of donors “in regular contact with the campaign” who spoke to CNN:

A host of top Buttigieg donors who have been in regular contact with the campaign tell CNN that they expect the mayor to raise more than $15 million in the second quarter. The Buttigieg campaign set a goal of $15 million — just more than double the $7 million it raised in the first quarter — at the start of April, according to a source familiar with the strategy. But the quarter has been more successful than anticipated and the campaign is working to exceed its goal in the final 18 days.

This is a significant leap from Buttigieg’s first quarter numbers.

For comparison, Sanders raised $18.2 million in the first quarter, according to CBS.  In contrast to Buttigieg’s donor makeup, Sanders saw 900,000 individual donors with 99.5 percent of those donations coming in at $100 or less.

Warren and Beto O’Rourke (D) raised $6 million and $9.4 million, respectively. Eighty-three percent of Warren’s contributions were less than $50, and 98 percent of O’Rourke’s were less than $200.

Unlike his competitors, Buttigieg is focusing largely on fundraising tours, headlining a number of celebrity-spritzed events and winning over donors like Gwyneth Paltrow.

Buttigieg headlined a fundraising event at Paltrow’s home in May, dazzling influential celebrities in attendance, including Martin Sheen and Chelsea Handler.

He plans to wrap up the quarter by headlining a number of events in Los Angeles and closing in Boston, attending an event “hosted by prolific political donor Jack Connors,” CNN reports. Buttigieg’s campaign hopes to raise $1 million at that event alone.