Tim Scott campaign rakes in millions but how does he compare to other GOP hopefuls
U.S. Sen. Tim Scott brought in $6.1 million during the first six weeks of his bid for the Republican nomination for president, according to a memo from his campaign manager.
Scott ended the second quarter, which closed on June 30, with $21 million in cash available to spend in the Republican primary.
But the $6.1 million, which includes money subject to federal campaign limits raised by related entities since the campaign’s May 22 launch, is less than what former S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley reported in each of her first two quarters of campaigning.
Scott started his campaign carrying over $22 million from his reelection campaign last year when he won another 6-year term to the U.S. Senate.
TIM PAC – the super PAC supporting Scott’s White House bid – received in $19.28 million in contributions in the second quarter and more than $15 million cash on hand at the end of June, according to Fox News.
South Carolina’s junior senator also received about 75,000 contributions from 53,000 unique donors from all 50 states, the campaign said.
Scott has a national polling average of 3.2%, according to Real Clear Politics.
With the polling numbers and his number of donors, Scott qualifies for the Aug. 23 GOP presidential debate where candidates need to have at least 40,000 individual donors and poll consistently above 1% in three national polls or two national polls and a state poll, under rules set by the Republican National Committee.
Scott’s campaign is touting his war chest and how much it has available to spend during the primary contest. Donors can give a candidate up to $3,300 for the primary election and $3,300 for the general election cycle, but only the first $3,300 can be spent in the primary race.
“On day one of our campaign, we were fully-funded through South Carolina. But this impressive grassroots-powered effort allows us to execute our plan and run this campaign on our terms,” Campaign Manager Jennifer DeCasper said in a memo. “At the end of the day, candidates can post any number they want. But the name of the game is how much actual cash you have on hand that’s available for use in the Republican primary.”
Scott has already been spending out of his campaign war chest. In addition to traveling to early primary states Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, he has been on the air running radio and television ads in Iowa and New Hampshire.
Other leading candidates have posted bigger fundraising quarters than Scott.
Haley, the former South Carolina governor seeking the White House, and her joint fundraising committees raised $8.3 million in her first six weeks on her campaign, which launched on Feb. 15. She also raised $7.3 million during the second quarter of the year.
Haley, who appointed Scott to the U.S. Senate in 2013, only has $9.3 million cash on hand to spend.
Former President Donald Trump raised $35 million during the second quarter of 2023 even after two indictments, with potentially more indictments on the horizon. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis received $20 million in the second quarter, which represented the first six weeks of his campaign.
This story was originally published July 13, 2023 at 10:31 AM with the headline "Tim Scott campaign rakes in millions but how does he compare to other GOP hopefuls."
