Joe Biden raised more than one-third of his early campaign cash from donors who gave the maximum amount allowed, helping the former vice president rack up $22 million in the year’s second quarter but opening him to criticism in a Democratic primary that has placed a high premium on support from small-dollar contributors.
Biden raised money in $2,800 increments while making frequent stops to glad-hand at the homes of rich donors, some of whom have known him for decades. He brought in more money from "max-out" supporters than rival Pete Buttigieg, whose $24.8 million haul topped Biden’s and the rest of the Democratic field’s totals in the second quarter of the year. Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Ind., took in $4.8 million in checks from donors giving the maximum contribution during the past three months.
Biden’s big money haul reflects his sway with some of the country’s most influential donors and fundraisers. It also shows a potential shortcoming for his campaign: He can’t return to donors who already gave his campaign the $2,800 maximum and ask for more, while opponents who are raising more checks in $10 and $20 increments can keep returning to small-dollar donors over the course of the primary.
Rivals such as Sen. Bernie Sanders, meanwhile, are using Biden’s frequent fundraising stops as part of an argument that Biden is out of touch with Democratic primary voters.
Since before he launched his campaign, Biden has been working to build out his network of small-dollar donors. His campaign raised $8.3 million in donations from people giving $200 or less in the second quarter, a significant sum — though less than Sanders or Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who have focused on building out small-dollar fundraising bases in lieu of attending big fundraisers, brought in.
Sanders raised $12.5 million in small-dollar donations last quarter, while Warren raised $12.7 million in small-dollar donations.
Among the big-name Democratic donors who gave to Biden’s campaign were investor Ron Conway, Newsweb Corporation Chairman Fred Eychaner, and Hollywood producer Jeffrey Katzenberg and his wife, Marilyn, all of whom gave the maximum donation. So did several people tied to the Obama administration, such as former White House press secretary Jay Carney, former U.S. Ambassador to France Jane Hartley and former U.S. Ambassador to Belgium Denise Bauer, who is also helping fundraise for Biden’s campaign.
The wealthy network of one of Biden’s supporters, Florida-based attorney John Morgan, also helped kick in significant money: Attorneys working for Morgan’s law firm, Morgan & Morgan, gave $398,000 to the Biden campaign since it launched.
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