By Stephanie Kelly
(Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden's re-election campaign announced Saturday it raised over $187 million in the first quarter 2024, almost double what it took in during the previous quarter.
In March alone, when Biden clinched the Democratic Party's nomination, the campaign raised more than $90 million, up from over $53 million the previous month. The team also reported $192 million in cash on hand, which it said was the highest total amassed by any Democratic candidate in history at this point in the cycle.
Biden's campaign has been pulling in more money ahead of November's election than that of his Republican rival Donald Trump. Analysts attribute that to Biden's incumbent status and support from Democratic predecessors.
In March, former Democratic Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton joined Biden in a star-studded New York City fundraiser that organizers said raised more than $25 million.
The campaign said the funds announced Saturday came in through all fundraising streams, which in the past have included Biden's campaign, the Democratic National Committee and joint fundraising committees.
In the first quarter, 96% of donations were under $200, with more than 1.1 million donors making over 1.9 million contributions, the campaign said.
It added that it had over 212,000 sustaining donors, more than double the amount at this point in the 2020 cycle, in which Biden bested Trump.
The campaign is embarking on a $30 million, six-week paid media campaign in battleground states, including ad buys targeting Latino, Black and Asian American and Pacific Islander voters, as well as supporters of Nikki Haley, who in early March ended her long-shot challenge to Trump for the Republican nomination.
Biden has visited every battleground state in less than 20 days, and campaign surrogates participated in 69 campaign events in March, the campaign said.