HENNIKER, NH – As other Republican presidential hopefuls wait to hire staff or even join the race to save dollars, anti-woke biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy has thrown his own $10 million into the White House’s path.
Ramaswamy, who on February 21 became the second Republican candidate to officially enter the race besides former President Donald Trump, reported raising a total of $11.4 million in his first campaign finance filing with the Federal Election Commission last weekend.
Only $1.2 million came from actual donors, but almost everything else came in the form of a single check from himself on March 1.
By comparison, Trump, who famously boasted that he was so rich that he didn’t need donations, had spent less than $2 million of his own money on the 2016 campaign through the first three months of 2015. $66 million was out of pocket during the general election next November.
Like other presidential candidates before him, Ramaswamy’s two donations totaling $10.25 million were technically loans, meaning that if his campaign was flush with other people’s money, it could technically be repaid.
He said during a campaign stop in Manchester last week that in his first five weeks, he got 15,000 unique donors – a figure that will become even more meaningful in the coming weeks as the Republican National Committee announces criteria for candidates hoping to make their first televised debate. . in Milwaukee in August.
The party, aware of the issue of attracting “small dollar” donors, will set a minimum threshold for the number of contributors per candidate, in addition to requiring a minimum polling threshold.
The RNC has not announced what those thresholds will be, though one Republican familiar with the discussions said the requirements for the first debate will be minimal with the goal of getting as many candidates announced on stage as possible, at least early.
“Whatever the criteria, we’re going to beat him,” Ramaswamy said standing next to a campaign bus wrapped in a giant likeness that allowed him to reach all 10 counties in New Hampshire last week and will allow him to visit Iowa. in style this weekend.
Asked how he can hope to go from the lowest polls he’s in to a position from which he can win the nomination, he said the last GOP president, who was also a political novice, started at the same time. position before he participated in the race in 2015 compared to other running.
“The same way Donald Trump did in 2015. I actually polled and did most of the race about where Donald Trump was when he went down the escalator,” Ramaswamy said, noting that the former president who attempted a coup was there. a household name at the time thanks to the prime time TV show that portrayed the savvy billionaire.
“The dynamics of this race will change dramatically after that first debate,” said Ramaswamy, who is 37 and a minor star in Republican politics thanks to his book “Woke Inc.” which was written in 2021.
He has told the interviewers that he has not set a limit on the amount of money estimated at half a billion for the presidential election. Campaign staff, meanwhile, scoff at the idea raised by some Republican critics who are running just to raise their profile to be able to make a plausible case for a Cabinet position or other senior-level job in the next GOP administration.
“It’s definitely a lot of work to put your family down and put down eight figures of money so you can be HHS secretary,” said Tricia McLaughlin, a senior adviser to the campaign. “He believes that he is the candidate to bring American unity.”