Democratic rising star and 2020 presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg announced his fundraising total for the second quarter of his 2020 run for president early Monday morning.
The $24.8 million haul represents a massive total following his surge in the polls and a strong performance at the first Democratic debate in Miami last week. A poll conducted by Morning Consult after the debate showed Buttigieg with a 10 point increase in favorability.
Buttigieg is going into the third quarter with $22.6 million on hand.
Since he officially commenced his underdog campaign for president in April, the South Bend, Indiana, mayor has made inroads with big-money donors. He's among three 2020 Democratic contenders, including former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris of California, who have received the support of top financiers across the country, as CNBC reported in June.
Buttigieg has enlisted the help of at least two dozen Democratic bundlers who had strong allegiances to former President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton during her White House run. One of those fundraisers is Hollywood producer Nicole Avant, who decided to go all in and help Buttigieg raise campaign cash, his spokesman recently told CNBC. Buttigieg finished the first quarter bringing in $7 million.
At the debate, Buttigieg made headlines when he openly took responsibility for South Bend's police force being predominantly white after an officer-involved fatal shooting of a black man. "Because I couldn't get it done," he said when asked about the apparent disparity. He also made it clear he does not support free college for all, a policy proposal supported by many of his fellow Democrats.
Following the debate, some candidates announced they had one of their best fundraising days since their declaration to run for president.
Harris, after battling Biden on his prior work with segregationists while he was a member of the U.S. Senate, raised $2 million in online contributions in the 24 hours after the event, her campaign spokesman said. It represented their best day of online contributions since the start of her campaign, he added.
Biden's team also said it had a great run of digital fundraising after the debate but has yet to release its top line figures.
All of the candidates were required by the Federal Election Commission to close their fundraising books on Sunday. The deadline to file is July 15.
