Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang raised $10 million in the third quarter, and his campaign says it plans to raise more than $12.5 million in the fourth quarter, The Hill reports. The jump amounts to a 25 percent increase from money raised in the third quarter.
“We expect to raise more than $12.5 million, at least 25 percent more than the previous quarter, which will enable us to keep pace with the establishment campaigns that are likely to outraise us,” Yang’s campaign’s national press secretary, S.Y. Lee, told The Hill .
The 44-year-old serial entrepreneur’s campaign recently hit its single largest fundraising haul to date, raising $750,000 in just 24 hours. The achievement came at the end of November to meet the $2 million fundraising goal for the week, which impressively came in the absence of a fundraising event such as a debate.
With the increase in funds, Yang’s campaign has been funneling the money into hiring new members to its national team, funding advertisements, and opening new offices across Iowa.
Despite his steady increase in funding and support, Yang currently needs 5 percent or more in three more DNC-approved polls to qualify for the January debate. Given the lack of surveys during the holiday season, Yang sent a letter to the DNC to release more polls, The Daily Beast reports.
“With the upcoming holidays and meager number of polls currently out in the field, a diverse set of candidates might be absent from the stage in Des Moines for reasons out of anyone’s control. This is a troubling prospect for our party. Regardless of the DNC’s best intentions, voters would cry foul and could even make unfounded claims of bias and prejudice.”
Thank you #YangGang – we just passed $2 million! You all are incredible! ??? https://t.co/hkR62zTDwG
— Andrew Yang????? (@AndrewYang) December 30, 2019
A senior Yang campaign official pointed to Yang’s “broad coalition” ? — referring to the candidate’s support from across the political spectrum ? — and suggested that the Democratic Party needs to bring “more people” in as opposed to setting up barriers that prevent people from entering the political process. The official added that ? — in addition to the expected bump in fourth-quarter fundraising ? — Yang has nearly 400,000 donors and 1 million contributions.
Following the last debate, Yang jumped to fourth in favorability in a Morning Consult poll, barely edging out Pete Buttigieg. Specifically, Yang went from 27 points to 34 ? — an increase of seven points. RealClearPolitics puts him tied for sixth in polling support with Amy Klobuchar. The dark horse candidate has remained in sixth place for quite some time, meaning the January debate could be a crucial event to gain a much-needed boost in support.
