Pete Buttigieg raised $24.7 million in the final quarter, bringing his total 2019 haul to $76 million

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Pete Buttigieg raised $24.7 million in the final quarter, bringing his total 2019 haul to $76 million
pete buttigieg
  • South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg announced Wednesday that his campaign raked in $24.7 million in the final quarter.
  • He raised a whopping $76 million throughout 2019, according to his campaign.
  • Yet Buttigieg has also faced scrutiny for his fundraising tactics - most notably during last month's Democratic debate, in which he was criticized for attending a fundraiser in a wine cave.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg announced early Wednesday his campaign raked in $24.7 million in the final quarter of the year - bringing his entire 2019 haul to a whopping $76 million.

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The figure is a remarkable one for a candidate who had very little national name recognition when he started his presidential bid early last year.

"These figures are even more astounding considering that Pete started this race less then a year ago as an unknown candidate, with just a few staffers and zero dollars in the bank," campaign manager Mike Schmuhl said in a statement. "But what we did have was a shared vision of bringing a new kind of politics to Washington and changing the trajectory of our country."

It's still unclear how Buttigieg's final-quarter haul stacks up to the other 2020 frontrunners - they have not yet announced their fundraising totals.

But Schmuhl said in the statement that of the $76 million raised in 2019, 98% of donations were for figures under $200, and the average donation was $38.

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He said 326,000 people contributed to Buttigieg's campaign in the fourth quarter, contributing an average of $33.

Yet Buttigieg has also faced criticism for his fundraising tactics - most notably during last month's Democratic debate, in which Sen. Elizabeth Warren slammed Buttigieg for attending a fundraiser in a wine cave.

"The mayor just recently had a fundraiser that was held in a wine cave full of crystals and $900-a-bottle wine," Warren said. "He had promised that every fundraiser he would do would be open-door, but this one was closed-door. We made the decision many years ago that rich people in smoke-filled rooms would not pick the next president of the United States. Billionaires in wine caves should not pick the next president of the United States."

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