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Beto O'Rourke Raised Record-Breaking $6.1 Million In First 24 Hours Of Campaign

Beto O'Rourke Raised Record-Breaking $6.1 Million In First 24 Hours Of Campaign

Beto O’Rourke’s campaign said it raised a whopping $6.1 million in the first 24 hours after his 2020 presidential announcement, beating out the other Democratic contenders who have released their fundraising figures.

Donations totaling $6,136,763 were made online by people ― not political action committees or corporations ― and poured in from every state and territory, his campaign announced in a statement Monday.

A representative for the campaign did not respond to a request for information about the total number of donors and the average amount contributed by each person.

“In just 24 hours, Americans across this country came together to prove that it is possible to run a true grassroots campaign for president ― a campaign by all of us for all of us that answers not to the PACs, corporations, and special interests but to the people,” O’Rourke said in the statement.

The former U.S. House representative from Texas outpaced Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who raised $5.9 million from 223,047 individuals in the first 24 hours after announcing his 2020 Democratic bid last month. Sanders went on to raise $10 million by the end of his first week.

Other Democratic candidates who have disclosed fundraising figures include California Sen. Kamala Harris with $1.5 million in the first 24 hours, former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper with $1 million in the first 48 hours, and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee with $1 million in the first 72 hours.

As The New York Times noted, it’s nearly impossible to confirm these numbers at this time. However, presidential candidates must file fundraising reports at the end of March, and they will be made public on April 15.

O’Rourke, who lost his race to unseat incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in November, kicked off his presidential campaign on Thursday in Iowa. He will continue his campaign tour this week with stops in Michigan, Ohio and other states.

This story has been updated to include additional information about O’Rourke’s campaign.

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