Donors have contributed nearly $115 million to help Jeb Bush get elected president, according to figures released Thursday.
Right to Rise USA, the super PAC supporting Bush’s White House bid, announced Thursday that it had raised more than $103 million dollars between January 6 and June 30th.
Meanwhile, Bush’s official campaign, which cannot coordinate with the super PAC, also said Thursday it has raised $11.4 million in the 16 days between his announcement and the end of the fundraising quarter in June.
“Jeb is encouraged and grateful for the tremendous early support and enthusiasm his candidacy has generated since he launched his campaign,” said Woody Johnson, Bush’s national finance chairman. “We are confident our campaign will have the resources needed to get Jeb’s conservative record, message and vision for the future out to voters across the country.”
The Right to Rise super PAC said in a statement: “We are grateful for the overwhelming response from the thousands of donors who have been drawn to Jeb’s optimistic message of conservative renewal and reform.”
The figures reflect the new reality of presidential campaigns: super PACs, unlike campaign committees, can accept unlimited amounts of money. Before getting into the race, Bush served as honorary chairman of the super PAC and encouraged donors to donate to it.
In all likelihood, Bush’s fundraising totals will be much larger than his rivals: Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s presidential campaign said $51 million has been raised in total between his campaign and groups supporting him (his campaign said they raised $14.2 million and super PACs raised $37 million).
Ben Carson has raised $8.3 million from 151,000 donors and Carly Fiorina has raised $1.4 million while her super PAC raised $3.4 million.
Other candidates have not yet released figures yet.