It must be tough to be a political donor these days, especially if you play both sides of the fence by donating to multiple candidates in both major parties. As of this writing, there are sixteen major declared Republican candidates and five Democratic candidates.
The wealth of choices certainly hasn’t stopped the giving. The fifteen top presidential candidates have amassed a bit over $400 million in campaign funds and we are still months away from the first primaries.
How do the candidates rank in fundraising? As of June 30th (the quarterly filing date), here are the monetary standings.
#1 - Jeb Bush (Republican) – Bush has a war chest of $114.4 million, with the vast majority as Super PAC money ($103 million). $11.4 million comes from campaign contributions. As of the filing date, the Bush campaign had spent $3.1 million.
#2 - Hillary Clinton (Democrat) – Clinton leads by far in campaign contributions with $47.5 million, but with only $15.6 million in Super PAC money, she comes in second with a $63.1 million total. She does lead the spending race with $18.7 million in expenditures.
#3 - Ted Cruz (Republican) – The outspoken senator from Texas has $14.3 million in campaign cash and $38 million in Super PAC money for $52.3 million total. So far, Cruz has spent $5.8 million.
#4 - Marco Rubio (Republican) – Rubio's war chest of $40.7 million is equally funded by campaign dollars ($12.1 million), Super PAC money ($16.1 million) and other fundraising committees ($15.8 million). Rubio has spent $3.1 million.
#5 - Scott Walker (Republican) – Even though Walker just entered the race, he reportedly has $32.1 million to work with — $20 million from a super PAC, $5.9 million from his state campaign committee, and $6.2 million from other fundraising committees.
#6 - Rick Perry (Republican) – The former Texas governor has only $1.1 million in campaign funds but $16.8 million in Super PAC money for a total of $17.9 million. Perry has spent only $700,000 to date.
#7 - Bernie Sanders (Democrat) –The self-avowed Socialist stuck with his principles and finished sixth with $15.2 million in campaign funds and no Super PAC money. Sanders has spent $3.1 million on his campaign so far.
#8 - John Kasich (Republican) – The Ohio governor only recently threw his hat into the ring, so campaign funds are lacking. However, he has $11.5 million in Super PAC money available.
#9 - Chris Christie (Republican) – Similarly to Kasich, Christie has no campaign funds yet, but does have $11 million in Super PAC money to work with.
#10 - Ben Carson (Republican) – Carson has $10.6 million of campaign funds, also without a Super PAC. He has spent over half of his money already ($5.9 million).
#11 - Bobby Jindal (Republican) – The Louisiana governor has less than $600,000 in campaign funds, but has a total of $9.3 million in funds with $3.7 million in Super PAC money and $5 million from other committees. Jindal's spending barely registers at $0.1 million.
#12 - Mike Huckabee (Republican) – The former Arkansas governor and TV/radio show host claims $8 million total, with $6 million in Super PAC money and $2 million in campaign contributions. So far, Huckabee has spent $1.4 million.
#13 - Rand Paul (Republican) – The Libertarian contrarian of the group, Kentucky Senator Paul has $6.9 million to work with in campaign contributions. Paul has spent $2.8 million to date.
#14 - Carly Fiorina (Republican) – Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Fiorina has $5.1 million in funds, with $1.7 million in campaign funds and $3.4 million through a Super PAC. Fiorina has spent $0.7 million so far.
#15 - Lindsey Graham (Republican) – The South Carolina senator has $3.7 million in his coffers, all in campaign funds. He's spent $1.1 million so far (presumably not counting the new cell phone he needs since Donald Trump gave out his personal number).
#16 - Martin O'Malley (Democrat) – It is $2 million, all in campaign funds, for the former governor of Maryland. So far, O'Malley has spent $0.7 million.
#17 - Donald Trump (Republican) – The billionaire has $1.9 million in campaign funds, and has already spent $1.4 million. Who needs a Super PAC when you estimate your own worth at $10 billion?
#18 - Rick Santorum (Republican) – The second-place finisher in the last Republican race is far off the money pace at $600,000 and no Super PAC. Santorum has spent two-thirds of his funds already, giving him a grim prognosis.
#19 - Lincoln Chaffee (Democrat) – Chaffee has $0.4 million to work with, or what we like to call $400K. He has already spent a quarter of his funds.
#20 - George Pataki (Republican) – The former New York Governor has only $255,000 in funds and a lot of ground to make up. His spending is below $100,000.
Jim Webb, a Democratic candidate, former Virginia Senator and Navy Secretary, does not have any fundraising data available yet.
Have you decided to run for President yet? If so, line up your donors quickly. There can’t be too many remaining!
