Elizabeth Warren reveals unintimidating $6 million Q1 fundraising haul


Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is turning out to be a big spender on the campaign trail — but it's unclear if that's paying off.
The 2020 candidate revealed her first-quarter fundraising haul on Wednesday, sharing in an email to supporters that she'd pulled in $6 million from 135,000 donors. That total isn't too hefty when compared with more mainstream and even underdog rivals — and Warren isn't exactly stashing it all for a rainy day, either.
Warren's Q1 total comes in at about a third of funds raised by frontrunner Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who reported last week that he'd raked in $18 million from 525,000 individual donors over the same time period. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), who's slightly ahead of Warren in most polls, said she got $12 million from 218,000 people. Warren's total doesn't even look great in comparison to once-longshot candidate Pete Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who said he's gotten $7 million from an undisclosed number of donors.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Warren has already spent $4.6 million, or 85 percent, of her Q1 earnings, which Politico notes means she's "spending like a front-runner but isn't yet raising money like one." Still, she has an additional $10.4 million in the bank after transferring unused Senate election funds to her presidential election stash. That's a sizable war chest for a candidate who reportedly lost her finance director because he didn't like her small-money donation commitment.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
Flying into danger
Feature America's air traffic control system is in crisis. Can it be fixed?
-
Pocket change: The demise of the penny
Feature The penny is being phased out as the Treasury plans to halt production by 2026
-
Time's up: The Democratic gerontocracy
Feature The Democratic party is losing key seats as they refuse to retire aging leaders
-
Crypto firm Coinbase hacked, faces SEC scrutiny
Speed Read The Securities and Exchange Commission has also been investigating whether Coinbase misstated its user numbers in past disclosures
-
Starbucks baristas strike over dress code
speed read The new uniform 'puts the burden on baristas' to buy new clothes, said a Starbucks Workers United union delegate
-
Warren Buffet announces surprise retirement
speed read At the annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway, the billionaire investor named Vice Chairman Greg Abel his replacement
-
Trump calls Amazon's Bezos over tariff display
Speed Read The president was not happy with reports that Amazon would list the added cost from tariffs alongside product prices
-
Markets notch worst quarter in years as new tariffs loom
Speed Read The S&P 500 is on track for its worst month since 2022 as investors brace for Trump's tariffs
-
Tesla Cybertrucks recalled over dislodging panels
Speed Read Almost every Cybertruck in the US has been recalled over a stainless steel panel that could fall off
-
Crafting emporium Joann is going out of business
Speed Read The 82-year-old fabric and crafts store will be closing all 800 of its stores
-
Trump's China tariffs start after Canada, Mexico pauses
Speed Read The president paused his tariffs on America's closest neighbors after speaking to their leaders, but his import tax on Chinese goods has taken effect