Dean Supporters Just Broke All-Time Democratic Fundraising Record Again [View All]

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As of 2 PM Eastern Time on New Year's Eve (December 31, 2003), supporters of Howard Dean for President have raised a total so far of $14,846,895.88 in the 4th quarter. Nearly 140,000 individuals this quarter alone participated in the record-breaking achievement, including over 50,000 new individual 4th quarter contributors. Over 280,000 individuals have contributed financially to the Dean campaign to date.

With ten hours to go in the Eastern time zone (and a couple more hours in other time zones), the Dean campaign is now working on setting the exact number for the new Democratic record.

Dean's 3rd quarter fundraising of $14.8 million eclipsed the previous record holder, President Bill Clinton, by over $4 million. Clinton ran unopposed for his party's nomination in the 3rd quarter of 1995. (Dean is running in a nine, formerly ten, candidate field against a sitting Republican president.)

Dean's supporters have also accomplished something else unprecedented in Democratic fundraising history: they bested his previous record in the 4th quarter before the election year. In comparison, Clinton's fundraising dropped by about 40% in the 4th quarter of 1995. Al Gore's fundraising also experienced a comparable dip of about 40% from the 3rd to 4th quarters of 1999. No candidate has been able to sustain such a fundraising performance in the fourth quarter after a 3rd quarter record, much less raise more funds.

A hearty congratulations to Dean supporters everywhere on this amazing accomplishment in making sure Democrats can beat George W. Bush and the Republicans up and down the ticket in 2004. But there's still time to help out, and every dollar counts in setting a brand new record (and in beating Bush). Click here to help out, and thanks again!

On edit: Changed a couple words to make the language more precise in describing what has happened. Also note that the Dean campaign is the only Democratic campaign not handicapped by spending limits (that go along with accepting federal matching funds) and raising the funds needed to remain competitive with the corporately-funded George W. Bush. Bush spent a whopping $15 million this quarter on his campaign even though he is running unopposed in his party.

The overwhelming majority of Dean's contributors sent in small dollar amounts. Federal election laws limit individual contributions to $2,000 maximum. By raising funds from small donor sources, Dean supporters are able to continue giving without bumping up against this limit. Other campaigns may have problems with "tapped out" donors. (Major Democratic candidates may be able to raise up to about $10 million from about 5,000 individuals giving $2,000 each. But that method of fundraising is not sustainable, since there aren't enough $2,000 high dollar contributors to sustain a Democratic campaign.)

Fourth quarter fundraising figures are due for release and disclosure in late January, 2004.