While Vice President Joe Biden may still be the front-runner in the 2020 polls, he’s falling woefully behind when it comes to campaign cash. New campaign finance filings released Tuesday reveal that while the 2020 candidate took in $15.7 million in the third quarter, Biden’s campaign only has $8.9 million on hand going into the fourth quarter. And with the Iowa caucuses rapidly approaching in February, his donors are reportedly starting to get nervous about Uncle Joe making it to the finish line.
Biden’s third quarter cash haul falls far behind his fellow top-tier 2020 candidates. Senator Bernie Sanders took in $25.3 million and has $33.7 million cash on hand, while Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Biden’s closest rival in the polls, took in $24.7 million and has $25.7 million on hand. Though slightly further down in the polls, Mayor Pete Buttigieg was one of the top third-quarter fundraisers with $19.2 million and $23.4 million on hand. Even Sen. Kamala Harris, who only took in $11.8 million in the quarter, outranks Biden in cash on hand with $10.5 million. (The Democratic candidates’ totals are all outmatched by President Donald Trump, who raised $85 million in the third quarter, and, combined with the Republican National Committee and various pro-Trump committees, has $158 million on hand.) The former vice president’s comparatively low contribution numbers are particularly notable considering the candidate has relied on traditional fundraising methods of big-money fundraisers and donors to fuel his campaign, while campaign cash victors Sanders and Warren have eschewed wealthy donors in favor of small dollar, grassroots donations. Indeed, 64% of all contributions to Biden have been large donations and only 35% have given $200 or less, as compared with at least 53% of Warren’s donors having contributed $200 or less.
The Biden campaign is still optimistic that their cash total will be enough to get the candidate through the primary race. “The fundamental question about fundraising is: Do you have what you need to run your race? And we do,” Kate Bedingfield, Biden’s deputy campaign manager, told the Washington Post. But according to a CNBC report, the outlook is more divided among Biden donors, with some remaining confident in Biden’s abilities to pull through while others have doubts about the candidate’s chances. “He has some big money tickets coming in and I have every confidence we are going to make it,” BLS Investments CEO Bernard Schwartz told CNBC, while another max contributor said the campaign’s dwindling cash on hand was a “handicap” going into the fourth quarter. “We all thought he would be better than this,” the donor told CNBC. Some Biden bundlers expressed concern to CNBC about where they’ll get big checks for Biden from in the future, now that most of their donors have already contributed the maximum $2,800 donation they’re allowed to give.
Biden donors’ post-third quarter worries come as the Democratic donor class was already beginning to fret about Biden’s prospects amid the ongoing Ukraine scandal, which has directly embroiled the candidate and son Hunter Biden. (Though Trump and Rudy Giuliani have alleged corruption on the part of the Bidens, there is no evidence to support their conspiracy theory.) As Peter Savodnik reported for Vanity Fair earlier in October, the Ukraine scandal has “amplified fears” among Democratic donors about Biden, with many trying to hunt down an “Alternate Biden” should the former veep’s campaign ultimately crumble. “Who is the alternative, should Joe Biden fade? There is concern that, if he fades, who’s next?” Barry Porter, a managing general partner of private-equity shop Clarity Partners, told Savodnik. “The Ukrainian thing is only throwing accelerant on that concern.”