Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) speaks during the Democratic presidential primary debate at Loyola Marymount University on December 19, 2019 in Los Angeles, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s campaign told supporters in an email on Friday that, so far, it has raised just over $17 million in the fourth quarter, a significant drop from her fundraising haul during the third quarter.
The memo asks backers to step up giving to the campaign.
“So far this quarter, we’ve raised a little over $17 million. That’s a good chunk behind where we were at this time last quarter,” it says.
Warren finished the third quarter bringing in $24.6 million, which was much more than most of the other Democratic primary contenders, including former Vice President Joe Biden and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg. Sen. Bernie Sanders – who, like Warren, shuns big-money fundraisers – led the field with more than $25 million during the third quarter.
If the $17 million total stands that would represent a 30% drop from the previous quarter. The current quarter ends in four days.
The development comes after Warren’s momentum in the Democratic primary race slowed down in recent months. At one point she was virtually neck and neck with Biden at the top of national polling averages. Biden’s campaign has said it expects to finish raising more in the fourth quarter compared with the previous period.
A spokesperson for Warren did not return a request for comment.
The dip in fundraising also comes after she escalated her attacks on billionaires and wealthy donors. She has accused rival Mike Bloomberg of trying to buy the Democratic nomination, while she has gotten into public spats with Wall Street titans such as Leon Cooperman and Lloyd Blankfein.
To pay for her ambitious progressive agenda, including “Medicare for All,” she is proposing a wealth tax that would seek 2% of every dollar over $50 million of someone’s net worth. That rate would go higher, to 6%, on net worth over $1 billion.
Warren’s disgust toward big-money fundraisers was on full display during the Democratic debate in Los Angeles. The senator battled with Buttigieg for taking part in a moneymaking event in California at an expensive wine cave. It turns out, the Massachusetts lawmaker also had a Senate fundraiser at a winery in Boston last year.
— Brian Schwartz reported from Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, and Tom Franck reported from Cooperstown, New York.
