Amy Klobuchar Raises $11.4 Million in Last Quarter of 2019

Democrat Amy Klobuchar said Friday that she raised $11.4 million for her presidential bid in the final three months of last year, the best fundraising quarter of the Minnesota senator's 2020 campaign but significantly less than all of her top rivals.

Klobuchar said 145,126 people donated between September and December, with an average contribution of $32. Campaign manager Justin Buoen said a "massive surge in grassroots support," thanks to strong performances in fall debates, helped the campaign double its staff in Iowa and New Hampshire, where voters cast the first votes for the Democratic nomination, and invest in the next two states — Nevada and South Carolina. The campaign also is spending money in states that will vote in the March 3 Super Tuesday contests.

But with just a month until the first primary votes are cast in Iowa on Feb. 3, Klobuchar trails — in polling and fundraising — the four top candidates: former Vice President Joe Biden, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

Sanders reported Thursday that he raised more than $34.5 million between September and December, while Buttigieg said his campaign received $24.7 million. Biden brought in $22.7 million, while entrepreneur Andrew Yang, who has not met the polling requirement to qualify for the Jan. 14 debate, said he received $16.5 million. Warren's campaign has not released its numbers but said in a recent fundraising email that it had collected about $17 million with days to go in the quarter.

The large numbers are a sign that the fight for the Democratic nomination could continue for several months, making it difficult for candidates who don't have strong campaign funding to stay in the race to replace President Donald Trump.

Trump's campaign said Thursday that it had raised $46 million during the last quarter and had more than $102 million cash on hand.

The size of the Democratic candidates' campaign bank accounts won't be clear until the Jan. 15 federal reporting deadline.

Klobuchar, who launched her campaign in February, raised $5.2 million in the first quarter, nearly $4 million in the second quarter and $4.8 million in the third quarter. She has met the requirements to participate in the Jan. 14 debate in Iowa, alongside Biden, Buttigieg, Sanders and Warren.