Amy Klobuchar Raises $2M After New Hampshire Debate

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s performance at Friday’s Democratic Party presidential primary debate in New Hampshire has apparently impressed voters across the country. On Saturday, Klobuchar revealed that she’s raised $2 million since the event, according to The Hill.

In a statement, Klobuchar’s campaign manager, Justin Buoen, revealed that the senator is receiving donations from across the country, which demonstrates that she enjoys grassroots support.

“With proven grassroots support, Amy continues to outperform expectations and punch above her weight. Following her debate performance, we’ve raised $2 million and have seen an outpouring of donations from all 50 states, which will allow us to compete in New Hampshire and beyond.”

During the debate, Klobuchar sparred with a number of other candidates, notably hitting former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg over his inexperience.

“I don’t have the biggest name on this stage, I don’t have the biggest bank account, I’m not a political newcomer with no record, but I have a record of fighting for people,” the Minnesota senator said in her closing statements at the debate.

Klobuchar also attacked Buttigieg for flip-flopping on the issue of health care, quoting a three-year-old tweet in which the former mayor wrote that he supports Medicare for All, Sanders’ signature proposal. Buttigieg now claims to support expanding the Affordable Care Act.

A moderate Democrat with limited name recognition — until recently — Klobuchar has outperformed both expectations and the polls. In the controversial Iowa caucuses earlier this week, she came in fifth, after former Vice President Joe Biden, Massachusetts Democrat Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and Buttigieg.

In New Hampshire, Klobuchar is hovering around sixth place. According to latest polling, the Minnesota senator enjoys the support of 5 percent of the electorate. Sanders and Buttigieg are ahead of the pack in the Granite State.

The Vermont Independent is leading the field with 28 percent of the vote. Buttigieg is in second place, polling at 21 percent. Biden is in third place, with 11 percent, and Warren in fourth, with 9 percent of the vote.

I am not a billionaire. I do not come from money.

I am the granddaughter of an iron ore miner, the daughter of a teacher and a newspaperman, the first woman elected to the Senate from Minnesota, and someone who passed over 100 bills as the lead Democrat. pic.twitter.com/Xw8nAs05GR

— Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) February 9, 2020

Biden’s collapse appears to have cleared the way for Buttigieg, who is cutting into the former vice president’s support among moderate and conservative voters. Similarly, Warren’s collapse has benefited Sanders, who is seeing an increase in support from liberal New Hampshirites.

Much like Klobuchar, Sanders also sparred with Buttigieg during the New Hampshire debate, hitting the former South Bend mayor for accepting campaign contributions from Wall Street, billionaires — 40 of them, according to Sanders — and the pharmaceutical industry.