WASHINGTON — It took awhile, but U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard finally hit her goal of 65,000 donors, enough to put her on the Democratic presidential debate stage come June.
The Hawaii congresswoman announced the achievement Wednesday via a campaign email.
The Democratic National Committee had set the 65,000 donor threshold as a means to weed out the large number of candidates with dreams of settling into the White House.
Gabbard’s announcement, however, did not say how much money she raised in the first quarter of 2019. She has until Monday to submit the numbers to the Federal Election Commission.
Other candidates in the Democratic presidential field have already shared their fundraising hauls from the first three months of 2019.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who’s an early frontrunner, said he raised $18.2 million while Kamala Harris, his Senate colleague from California, says she pulled in $12 million.
Other candidates who have released figures include Beto O’Rourke ($9.4 million), Peter Buttigieg ($7 million), Amy Klobuchar ($5.2 million), Cory Booker ($5 million) and Andrew Yang ($1.7 million).
One thing to watch is how Gabbard fares on a presidential debate stage.
In 2016, the congresswoman of then-Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbit Wasserman-Schulz for not scheduling more presidential debates. At the time Gabbard was a vice chair of the DNC, which meant her comments got a lot of air time.
But her criticism was curious when put into context. Gabbard herself is a notorious debate dodger. The congresswoman hasn’t debated a single opponent, Democrat or Republican, ever since she was elected to Congress in 2012.
A Honolulu Star-Advertiser during the 2018 election found Gabbard’s refusal to debate her opponents doesn’t sit well with voters. Three-out-of-four respondents said she has an obligation to engage.
GET IN-DEPTH REPORTING ON HAWAII’S BIGGEST ISSUES
Support Independent, Unbiased News
Civil Beat is a nonprofit, reader-supported newsroom based in ±á²¹·É²¹¾±Ê»¾±. When you give, your donation is combined with gifts from thousands of your fellow readers, and together you help power the strongest team of investigative journalists in the state.
About the Author
-
Nick Grube is a reporter for Civil Beat. You can reach him by email at nick@civilbeat.org or follow him on Twitter at . You can also reach him by phone at 808-377-0246.