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The 2020 White House race is sparking massive fundraising and spending by a still-large Democratic field, and Bernie Sanders continues to lead the pack when it comes to getting the most money from supporters.
But billionaires Michael Bloomberg and Tom Steyer are well ahead of their rivals in spending, fueled by Bloomberg giving $200 million of his own money to his self-funded campaign and Steyer contributing $202 million to his. Steyer also has raised $2.9 million from supporters and reported nearly $1 million in “offsets to expenditures,” meaning vendor refunds and the like.
Related: Democrats set to include Bloomberg in debates with change to qualifying requirements
The MarketWatch chart below features the 11 contenders still in the race for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination. The blue bars show how much they’ve raised from supporters, while the green ones show how much they’ve gotten from their own coffers or from an old Senate or House campaign account. The red bars indicate how much they’ve spent.
The chart just covers each candidate’s principal campaign committee, rather than including money from so-called independent groups, such as the ”Unite the Country” super PAC that supports Joe Biden and has reported raising $7.6 million as of Jan. 31.
And see: These are the basics of campaign finance in 2020 — in two handy charts
The figures above come from Jan. 31 disclosures that reveal fundraising and spending through Dec. 31. Presidential campaigns are just starting to report their numbers for January ahead of a Feb. 20 deadline, with Sanders, the Vermont senator, on Thursday announcing a monthly haul of $25 million. Since it’s an election year, monthly totals now must be reported to the FEC by White House campaigns, rather than just quarterly figures.
Related: What Democrats can do with the money left over from their failed 2020 presidential runs
In a RealClearPolitics moving average of national polls as of Friday, former Vice President Biden is leading the 2020 Democrats with 27% support, followed by Sanders at 21.8%, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts at 14.4%, Bloomberg at 10.6% and former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg at 7.0%. Buttigieg and Sanders both have claimed victory in the past week’s chaotic Iowa caucuses, and Sanders is leading in New Hampshire polls ahead of that state’s primary on Tuesday.
On the Republican side, President Donald Trump’s principal campaign committee has reported raising $211 million as of Dec. 31 while spending $116 million.
