O’Rourke plays catch-up to Sanders, Harris in 2020 cash race
Associated PressA handful of Democratic presidential candidates are touting the amount of money they’ve raised in the first fundraising period of a 2020 primary fight that will last into next spring. Details for the entire field won’t be known until candidates file their required disclosures with the Federal Election Commission by April 15, but here are some takeaways from what the campaigns have released so far: BERNIE REALLY IS A FRONT-RUNNER Bernie Sanders joins former Vice President Joe Biden atop many polls of prospective Democratic primary voters. The senator from Vermont, who showed surprising fundraising heft in his upstart challenge to Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton four years ago, raised more than $18 million in the 41 days between his official campaign launch and March 31, giving him $28 million cash on hand. ___ EXPECTATIONS GAME: MAYOR PETE WINS Sanders’ fundraising haul set the curve for all candidates and will give pause to some of the other perceived heavyweights in the field, particularly his fellow senators Harris, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. Andrew Yang, an entrepreneur who’s never held political office, has raised just $1.7 million, but his campaign says it’s come from about 80,000 donors averaging less than $18 per contribution.