Buttigieg first stole Beto's star power. Now he's taking his donors.
South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg is coming for Beto O'Rourke's donors.
A McClatchy analysis of Democratic fundraising on Tuesday showed that Buttigieg has taken in $340,000 from 460 former O'Rourke donors, with this accounting for one out of every 10 dollars he took in from those who gave more than $200. Buttigieg isn't the only one raking in the O'Rourke cash, though, with more than 1,300 former O'Rourke donors giving to other candidates, and with Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) taking in $360,000 from nearly 400 of them.
Several former O'Rourke donors spoke with McClatchy about their decision to give to other candidates, with one saying he was inspired by an appearance Buttigieg made on Morning Joe. Another donor said he gave to Harris after previously donating to O'Roure's 2018 Senate campaign because "he's running on adrenaline and hasn’t really thought through why he wants to be president."
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O'Rourke isn't the only one suffering from this problem, though, with McClatchy reporting that Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) from January to March lost more big-dollar donors than they gained.
O'Rourke entered the 2020 race with plenty of momentum, raising an impressive $6.1 million in his first 24 hours. But since then, some pundits have observed that Buttigieg stole a lot of his thunder. The South Bend mayor has been surging in the polls, with one recent one from Quinnipiac showing him beating O'Rourke by five percentage points.
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Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
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