Celebs add star power to '08 donor lists
Actor Tony Sirico of “The Sopranos” gave to Giuliani last quarter.
WASHINGTON (CNN) - Celebrity donors. You know they're out there. But finding them in those Federal Election Commission reports buried among tens of thousands of celebrity-impaired Americans can be a royal pain in the Oscar.
But we at the CNN Political Ticker have painstakingly reviewed the latest batch of presidential fundraising disclosures and have compiled that information in convenient list form, complete with bullet points.
Click below for The Ticker's list of celebrity donors.
Clinton, Obama, Edwards bank almost $100 million
Sen. Hillary Clinton reported $33 million in cash on hand.
WASHINGTON (CNN) - The three Democratic presidential frontrunners have amassed nearly $100 million in their combined campaign war chests, almost triple the amount of their Republican counterparts, according to reports filed Sunday night with the Federal Election Commission.
Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards reported having a combined $94.8 million in their respective campaign accounts as of June 30, compared to the combined $33.7 million Republican frontrunners Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney and John McCain have amassed.
Clinton lead her field in cash-on-hand with $45.2 million, followed by $36.3 million for Obama, and $13.3 million for Edwards. The reports filed with the FEC did not specify how much of these amounts could be spent during the primaries.
For a complete run-down of the Democratic field, click below:
McCain warchest larger than expected
McCain has more cash on hand than previously estimated.
WASHINGTON (CNN) - Sen. John McCain began the month of July with $3.2 million in his presidential campaign bank account, more than the $2 million his aides estimated last week.
But a McCain campaign aide tells CNN that only $1.9 million of the Arizona senator's warchest can be used in his bid for the GOP presidential nomination.
McCain trails far behind former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who reported a bank account of $18.3 million, and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who reported $12.1 million in his coffers.
Though Romney spent $20.7 million from April through June, more than any other Republican candidate, he still enjoys a sizeable campaign warchest due in large part to roughly $8.9 million he has loaned himself from his personal funds.
McCain reported owing $1.8 million in debts as of June 30. Last week, sources close to McCain told CNN that the senator would have only $250,000 in available cash if all debts were due immediately.
All the presidential candidates filed detailed financial reports with the Federal Election Commission over the weekend.
Read on for a complete run-down of the Republican field:
Source: More McCain staff to exit next week
A source tells CNN mores staffers will depart McCain’s campaign next week.
WASHINGTON (CNN) - CNN has learned more staff members from Sen. John McCain’s struggling presidential bid are expected to depart the campaign by Monday, the latest in a string of setbacks for the Arizona Republican’s once surefire candidacy.
A source tells CNN’s Candy Crowley at least one senior staffer is among those who plan to call it quits by early next week.
The news comes days after McCain’s top two strategists were forced out following bleak second quarter fundraising numbers and excessive spending that left the campaign with a paltry $2 million cash on hand and $1.75 million in debt.
The campaign must officially report its financial status to the Federal Elections Commission by this Sunday.
On Thursday, two senior Iowa strategists also announced they were leaving the campaign. One of those departing, Ed Failor Jr. told CNN he still has a “great deal of respect for the senator.”
Meanwhile, news also surfaced Thursday that Florida State Rep. Bob Allen, a state co-chairman for McCain, was arrested for allegedly soliciting sex acts. Allen denies the charges and told CNN affiliate WFTV the incident was "a very big misunderstanding."
McCain gets back on the campaign trail Friday, slated to visit the early-voting state of New Hampshire.
- CNN’s Candy Crowley contributed to this report
Paul reports more campaign cash than McCain
Paul raised $2.4 million in the second quarter.
WASHINGTON (CNN) - He's considered a long-shot to win the GOP presidential nomination, but Texas Rep. Ron Paul is boasting more cash-on-hand than Arizona Sen. John McCain's struggling presidential campaign.
The Texas Republican raised nearly $2.4 million in the second quarter, and, after all expenses, has a total amount of $2.4 million cash-on-hand, campaign spokesman Kent Snyder tells CNN. Paul raised $640,000 in the first quarter of 2007.
Snyder added that nearly all of Paul’s warchest was raised through the Internet.
Earlier in the week, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s campaign announced having $18 million in campaign cash, $15 million of which may be spent on the primaries. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's campaign announced a warchest of $12 million for the GOP nomination fight.
Arizona Sen. John McCain, once the early favorite to win the nomination, reported raising a disappointing $11.2 million in the second quarter with only $2 million cash on hand - $400,000 less than Paul. His campaign said his support of immigration reform legislation hurt his fundraising ability.
Paul, with only 11 staffers on his campaign, runs a frugal campaign. The Texas Republican rarely travels to key campaign states. Snyder said the campaign is expecting to expand into additional states in the near future.
Paul registered 2 percent in the latest CNN/Opinion Research poll conducted June 22-24.
- CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney
Schneider: Presidential fundraising hits record pace
Obama raised nearly $33 million last quarter.
WASHINGTON (CNN) - For the first time in many years, Democratic candidates for president are raising more money than Republican candidates, according to the second quarter fundraising figures just released by the top candidates.
You think the voters are uninterested and uninvolved this early in the campaign? Think again.
"This is a record breaking amount of money, and this is a record breaking cycle," said Sheila Krumholz from the Center for Responsive Politics. "This will be like no other presidential election before."
Look at the amount of money being raised. In the second quarter of the year before each of the past three presidential elections, the total amounts raised were $34.1 million (1995), $55.3 million (1999) and $65.9 million (2003).
This year, we have second quarter totals for the top three candidates in each party. Those six candidates alone raised $110.7 million.
Why are people giving candidates so much money? Krumholz attributed it to "the lack of public funds being used this time, the increased competitiveness, not having an incumbent in the race. This is just an unusual race on many accounts."
It’s unusual for another reason, too: Democratic candidates are outpacing Republicans. In the second quarter of the year before the 1996 election, Republicans outraised the Democrat, Bill Clinton, $24.5 million to $9.6 million. Okay, but Clinton was running unopposed for the Democratic nomination.
In the second quarter of 1999, Republicans way outraised Democrats $50.2 million to $16.1 million, even though both party nominations were contested. Okay, you could argue that eight Republicans were running and only two Democrats.
In the second quarter of 2003, Republicans again raised more money ($35.1 million to $30.8 million). That year, nine Democrats were running and George W. Bush was unopposed.
In the second quarter of this year, totals for the top three candidates in each party show that, for the first time in recent years, Democrats are outraising Republicans - by more than $26 million ($68.5 million to $42.2 million).
Giuliani tops Romney, McCain in quarterly fundraising
Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani
WASHINGTON (CNN) - Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani raked in $17 million in campaign funds in the past three months, topping his two leading GOP rivals in fund-raising for the quarter, the Giuliani campaign announced Monday.
The figures came out shortly after former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney announced he had raised $14 million in the second quarter and had lent his campaign an additional $6.5 million. Romney's campaign said the $14 million raised was all for the GOP primary campaign, while a Giuliani campaign aide told CNN that $15 million of the former mayor's take can be spent for the primary.
Giuliani brought in nearly $2 million more than in the first quarter, when he trailed Romney. The campaign had more than $18 million remaining in the bank by the end of June, $3 million of which must be reserved for a possible general election race, the Giuliani aide said.
"We are thrilled by our fund-raising this quarter and are running a strong and efficient campaign. We are well positioned to win both the primary and the general elections," campaign manager Michael DuHaime said in a statement announcing the results. "We are serious about being good stewards with the money that has been entrusted to us."
Giuliani has led many early polls of the GOP field, with Romney and Sen. John McCain of Arizona rounding out the top tier of candidates in both money and polling.
Schneider: Where does McCain go from here?
Watch CNN's Bill Schneider analyze why McCain lags in fundraising and polls.
WASHINGTON (CNN) - The latest news from the McCain campaign is not good.
John McCain started this campaign as the establishment candidate. He's running in a party that usually nominates the establishment candidate. McCain made peace with his old rival, George W. Bush, and recruited some key Bush operatives and contributors for his campaign.
What happened?
"We believed that we would raise over $100 million during this calendar year and we constructed a campaign that was based on that assumption," McCain campaign manager Terry Nelson said in a conference call. "We believe today that that assumption is not correct."
- CNN Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider
Biden raises $2.4 million
WASHINGTON (CNN) - Sen. Joe Biden, D-Delaware, raised at least $2.4 million for his presidential campaigns in the last three months, a campaign aide tells CNN. At least $2 million of that total can be spent during the primaries.
Here's how Biden stacks up so far against the Democratic fundraising totals:
- Barack Obama: raised $32.5 million overall
- Hillary Clinton: raised $27 million overall
- John Edwards: raised $9 million overall
- Bill Richardson: raised $7 million overall
- Chris Dodd: raised $3.2 million overall
- Joe Biden: raised $2.4 million overall
(Note: Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel did not release fundraising estimates)
Well-funded Obama hits Granite State
Obama campaigned in New Hampshire Monday.
LACONIA, New Hampshire (CNN) - Illinois Sen. Barack Obama basked in the glory of knowing he has full campaign coffers Monday while campaigning in the early voting state of New Hampshire.
Speaking to a few hundred people gathered to meet him in Laconia, the Democratic presidential hopeful said, "This week I got a lot of attention for raising a lot of money."
Over the weekend, Obama's campaign announced it had raised $32.5 million in the second quarter of 2007, most of which can be used in the primary election. Late last week, Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign announced the New York Democrat had raised around $27 million in the same time period, $21 million of which can be used in the primary race.
Obama called it "a wonderful thing because we've got 250-thousand people donating to our campaign....people who are giving 5 dollars, 10 dollars and 25 dollars."
He said 90 percent of his donations were $100 or less.
Touching on his usual themes of health care, education, climate change and terrorism, Obama proclaimed he is ready to lead the country. He also argued that the reason there are big crowds coming out to see him everywhere he goes is because there is a "burning desire for change" in America.
- CNN Producer Fan Fifis
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