How much Wampum has Liz kept for herself?
Via The Hill
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has emerged as one of the top fundraisers for Senate Democratic candidates in the midterm election campaign, filling a void left by the absence of Hillary Clinton.
Warren, who was elected to her first term in 2012, has already raised more than $2.3 million for Senate Democratic candidates this election cycle, according to her staff. She has also transferred $100,000 from her campaign account to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC).
“She’s the biggest draw so far,” said a Senate Democratic campaign aide, referring to Warren’s knack for getting donors to open up their checkbooks.
A senior Senate Democratic aide agreed with that assessment.
Clinton is one of the few Democrats who can match Warren’s ability to excite the party base, but she has stayed on the sidelines while focusing on a memoir that is due out in June. Last year, Clinton campaigned only for New York City mayor Bill de Blasio and Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D).
Warren, by contrast, has given more than $180,000 to Senate Democratic candidates and colleagues through her leadership political action committee, PAC for a Level Playing Field, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission.
The recipients of her largess include vulnerable incumbents such as Sens. Mark Begich (D-Alaska), Mary Landrieu (D-La.), Kay Hagan (D-N.C.), and Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), who each received contributions totaling $10,000.
“She’s stepping into a vacuum, which politics abhors,” said Peter Ubertaccio, a political science professor at Stonehill College in Easton, Mass. “Clinton is the leading woman in her party. Warren is someone who is competing for that role.
“Warren has become a much greater factor in the Democratic Party than anyone could have foreseen just a couple of years ago,” he added.
Democratic donors in the Boston area, a major fundraising hub, take their cues from Warren on which candidates to support.
“I went to a fundraiser for Sen. [John] Walsh [D-Mont.] and it was very clear from the hosts that even though she wasn’t there, her name was invoked several times as being a person who was being supportive of Sen. Walsh and wanted us all of us to be supportive of Sen. Walsh,” said Scott Ferson, a Boston-based Democratic strategist. “So she’s been a very effective gatekeeper of the Boston money.”