Buttigieg, 37, is the first presidential contender to disclose an estimate of his fundraising total for the quarter. The haul is expected to place him, financially, in the upper half of a sprawling 2020 primary field that features a half-dozen senators.
“This is a big number for us,” Buttigieg wrote to supporters in an early Monday email. “We are not part of the national political machine. We started with just about 20,000 people on our email list, and not many people even knew who I was.”
Buttigieg, who is technically still only exploring a campaign, has said he has already surpassed the 65,000 donors needed to garner a spot on the Democratic National Committee’s primary debate stage, even as some better-known rivals have suggested they do not yet have that many.
Buttigieg’s fundraising jumped after he appeared on a CNN town hall-style event earlier in March and impressed Democratic activists and donors, as he fielded questions in rolled-up white shirt sleeves and a blue tie. His campaign announced that he raised $600,000 in the 24 hours after his appearance.
An openly gay veteran and former Rhodes scholar, Buttigieg has made numerous appearances on national television in recent weeks seeking to lift his political profile. Late last month he told supporters via email that he was setting a $500,000 fundraising goal by the end of the month. He hit the figure in less than 24 hours. He set another $500,000 goal. Again, he reached it in a 24-hour period.
Other candidates are expected to post larger sums than Buttigieg. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., raised $10 million in his first week as a presidential candidate. Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke raised $6.1 million in less than 24 hours as a candidate, and more than $1 million over the weekend.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.