Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand raised $3 million in the first quarter of this year, her campaign communications director said Sunday.
The report places the New York senator near the bottom of 2020 hopefuls in first quarter earnings. Gillibrand trails behind every candidate who has released first quarter numbers other than businessman Andrew Yang who raised $1.7 million.
“These fundraising totals mean Kirsten can continue to grow her operation in early states in ambitious ways, focused on introducing her to voters, building strong relationships and earning support in living rooms, tap rooms, coffee shops and college campuses,” said Meredith Kelly, Gillibrand’s communications director.
In a series of tweets, Kelly said much of the donations came late in the quarter, after the senator officially announced her candidacy in late March. The number of donors supporting Gillibrand doubled in the two weeks following the announcement, and 40% of her donations in April came in the 48 hours after her CNN town hall last week.
Kelly did not say how many donors supported Gillibrand but noted that 83% of donations were below $50 with an average online donation of $25.
In a memo sent to supporters Sunday, the campaign highlighted its “intentionally local approach” and told voters that polling conducted a year ahead of the Iowa caucus is often not predictive, according to a source familiar with the memo. Gillibrand has scored low in recent polling.
“This intentionally local approach doesn’t focus on winning the national news cycle, the Twitter primary or even statewide polling this early in the game,” the memo said. “Instead it recognizes that voters in places like Iowa and New Hampshire rightfully expect personal conversations with Kirsten - and that’s how she’ll earn votes.”
The memo went on to claim energizing women voters would be a key part of Gillibrand’s path to victory. Women made up two thirds of the Senator’s first quarter donors.
Gillibrand now has $10.2 million in cash on hand. She launched an exploratory committee for president in January before announcing her candidacy last month.
Her cash on hand figure puts her in fourth place in the field, behind Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who started April with $28 million remaining in his bank account, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren with $11.2 million and former Maryland congressman John Delaney with nearly $10.6 million.
In a report Delaney filed with the Federal Election Commission on Sunday, he reported total receipts of $12.1 million, most of which he provided to the campaign in the form of loans. Delaney was a businessman and entrepreneur before entering politics.
CNN’s Athena Jones and Jeff Zeleny contributed to this report.
