ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — $20 gift cards, tickets to see Lionel Messi play his first game for Inter Miami and the MLS, these are just two things being offered in exchange for campaign donations as GOP presidential hopefuls try to land on the debate stage next month. Right now, one requirement of doing is reaching 40,000 individual donors.
It’s legal under campaign finance law to offer these things, according to experts we asked, but it also shows how important these candidates think participating in the debate will be, even if frontrunner and former President Donald Trump hasn’t committed to attending.
Campaign cash is once again under the spotlight as the latest FEC filing deadline just passed. For the most part, the money mirrored the polling.
In Q2 (April-June), Trump’s joint campaign raised $35 million dollars. In second, Flordia Gov. Ron DeSantis, who raised $20.1 million in the same period after launching his presidential campaign in late May.
Though DeSantis’ campaign raised the most money of any candidate’s principal campaign (Trump’s principal raised $17.7 million), North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum was in third with more than $11 million, $10 million of which is his own money.
But DeSantis' campaign has also spent the most money -- about $8 million -- in the short time frame, the cash burn caused them to cut an estimated 10 staffers because of expenses.
Moving forward, Trump has the most money at $22.5 million left to spend, also known as “cash on hand." Sen. Tim Scott has the second most with $21.1 million, a lot left over from his Senate bid.
Those three candidates, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy and Chris Christie are all expected to have reached the 40,000-donor threshold to participate in the first Republican debate.
Burgum is offering $20 gift cards to folks who donate a dollar, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez is raffling off front-row tickets to Lionel Messi’s first game in Miami for those who do the same.
Others like former Vice President Mike Pence are preaching patience, “I just announced a month ago, give me some time,” he told reporters in Iowa.
On the Democratic side, President Joe Biden’s joint-committee say they’ve raised $72 million for his reelection efforts. His top challenger, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., raised more than $6 million.