Beto's Low Fundraising Numbers Raise Red Flags for His Campaign | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: This informational nugget was sent to me by Ben Shapiro, who represents the Daily Wire, and since this is one of the most topical news events, it should be published on BCN.

    The author of this post is Molly Prince.

    Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke raised just over $3.6 million from the period between April through June, falling far short of second quarter expectations.

    "In only 90 days, you raised $3,647,729.32. No PACS, just people - powered by 119,888 contributions at an average of $30," O'Rourke tweeted on Monday. "Proud of what we're doing across the country and grateful that you're a part of it."

    O'Rourke's second quarter campaign haul is less than half of the $9.4 million that he was able to generate during the first quarter. He stands in eighth place on the fundraising leader board for the quarter, behind Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who raised just under $3.9 million, according to CNN's campaign index. Further, O'Rourke edges out Washington Gov. Jay Inslee by roughly $600,000.

    "When you look at our fundraising in aggregate, we're in a great position," Jen O'Malley Dillon, O'Rourke's campaign manager, said in an email obtained by Politico. "I won't sugarcoat it: We have work to do, but we have the resources we need to execute our strategy."

    The former Texas congressman amassed a huge war chest of cash during his unsuccessful bid to unseat Republican Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018. Accordingly, he raised more campaign contributions in one quarter than any Senate candidate in American history when he took in $38.1 million during the third quarter of 2018.

    However, O'Rourke burned through almost all of the record-breaking $80 million he received while campaigning. The Beto For Texas campaign had less than $500,000 remaining of cash on hand in the reporting period ending three weeks after the midterm election, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records.

    O'Rourke's proven capacity to generate enormous campaign donations was again on full display after raising $6.1 million in the 24 hours following his announcement that he will seek the Democratic nomination for the presidency in 2020.

    The high fundraising haul broke the record for first day contributions, however it was ultimately surpassed two months later when former Vice President Joe Biden took in $6.3 million after launching his bid for the presidency, and again when President Donald Trump received $7 million following his reelection announcement.

    O'Rourke's relatively low campaign fundraising comes as the former congressman is plateauing in the polls. In the last two national polls conducted, O'Rourke received just 3 percent support, bringing his RCP average to 2.6 percent.

    The Beto for America campaign confirmed in the letter obtained by Politico that O'Rourke has met the threshold to qualify for the second debate series in July through small dollar donations. O'Rourke also announced the news on Twitter.

    "In the [four] short months since we launched, you raised more than $13 million from nearly $200,000 donors across the U.S.," said O'Rourke. "Not only does that show the power of running a truly grassroots campaign, but it means we've met the DNC's donor requirement for the fall debate. All thanks to you."

    In order to quality for the third and final debate in September, candidates must be polling over 2 percent in four qualifying national or early-state polls and report 130,000 unique donors.

    O'Rourke's campaign did not return The Daily Wire's request for comment.