Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) finished the first quarter of his presidential campaign in strong financial shape, raising nearly $13 million and starting July with zero debt and more cash on hand than any other Republican candidate.
Breitbart News previously reported that Rubio’s campaign had raised more than $12 million. The final figures, as reported by Politico, are $12,942,732.44 raised (including $3.2 million transferred over from Rubio’s Senate campaign account) and $3,083,666.95 spent. This resulted in a total $9,859,065.49 cash on hand and a burn rate of 18.37 percent.
Rubio communications director Alex Conant touted the campaign’s cash on hand, tweeting that it had more than any other Republican campaign and a lower burn rate:
Marco Rubio starts July with more money in the bank ($9.86m) and a lower burn rate than the other GOP campaigns, according to FEC reports
— Alex Conant (@AlexConant) July 16, 2015
Rubio’s cash on hand is more than $1 million ahead of his nearest competitors, and he has the lowest burn rate among Republicans who raised more than $1 million.
Former Gov. Jeb Bush’s (R-FL) Super PACs brought in over $100 million, but his campaign took in the comparatively more modest sum of $11,429,879.64 — including his own $388,720.15 donation — and spent $3,078,087.31 for a total cash on hand total of $8,351,810.33. Bush’s burn rate was 26.93 percent.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) raised $10,043,380.09 in the last quarter, plus an additional $3,934,267.45 from the previous quarter, and spent $5,450,051.61, leaving him with $8,527,595.93 cash on hand. Cruz’s burn rate was 38.76 percent.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) raised $6,932,799.14, and spent $2,771,264.00. That left him with total cash on hand of $4,161,515.14, and a burn rate of 39.97 percent.
Cruz and Paul’s burn rates were very close to that of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, who is having to pay the salaries of a whopping 343 campaign staffers and is spending heavily on travel expenses, as Breitbart News reported.
Also noteworthy: the Rubio campaign has no debt, putting him more like $2 million ahead in the true cash on hand contest. Bush’s campaign is $401,104.53 in debt, Cruz’s is $618,006.57 in the hole, and Paul’s debt is $716,442.99.
As noted before, Rubio beat Bush for number of small donors. Politico reported that $2.03 million of Rubio’s fundraising — over 15 percent — came from small donors, defined as those who gave less than $200.
In contrast, according to the Miami Herald, only about 3 percent of Bush’s fundraising came from small donors, and nearly 80 percent came from donors who gave the maximum contribution of $2,700 per individual.
This means that more of Rubio’s donors still have capacity to donate more. Bush’s deep-pocketed friends can, of course, still continue to write unlimited checks to the Super PACs.
Follow Sarah Rumpf on Twitter @rumpfshaker.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.