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"He is a candidate for president and part of his life experience that he brings is being an openly gay man. "He's not a gay candidate for president," she added. He's smart, he's thoughtful, he's the kind of guy we ought to have as president.' It has nothing to do with whether they will ultimately vote for him. "The average guy says 'that Mayor Pete guy, he makes sense. "One of the most astounding things about Pete's candidacy is that it's not the LGBTQ community alone that's fueling it," she said. Parker said while there's "huge excitement" among the gay community, the man known to many as "Mayor Pete" is catching on with all kinds of people she meets while traveling the country. "They're still crunching the numbers to understand some of the dimensions of all our support because it came, it seems, from every corner of the country and very different types of donors." "It certainly helps to have people who are excited about the historic quality of a possible candidacy, but we really have a broad range," he said.
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About 65% of contributions were less than $200, with an average donation of about $36. Buttigieg says he received donations from nearly 160,000 people between late January and March 31. While his upstart campaign benefited from the gay community's support, he didn't rely on it. But they are better-known, with well-established donor networks that in some cases date back many years.īuttigieg says he's using the money to double his roughly 20-person staff and build teams in early-voting states likes Iowa and New Hampshire. Kamala Harris ($12 million) and Vermont Sen. Other candidates exceeded his total, including California Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who each brought in over $5 million, and entrepreneur Andrew Yang. Of the candidates who've released their first-quarter fundraising totals, Buttigieg outraised New Jersey Sen. Once they do, the group will appeal to its donor network to directly support Buttigieg's campaign and promote his events. The board that makes endorsements - made up of 100 "bundlers," or people who commit to raising $5,000 annually for candidates - has been "champing at the bit" to endorse him, she said. Victory Fund, which invested $2 million in LGBT candidates in 2018, expects to endorse Buttigieg shortly after he formally joins the race, President and CEO Annise Parker said. The Buttigieg appeal was on display again this weekend when the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and his husband separately headlined galas for two of the country's largest LGBT organizations.Īnd the early haul shows no sign of slowing. The money has come from grassroots supporters like Burrell and big-dollar Hollywood donors who hope Buttigieg will make history - or at least the summer debate stage. "It makes me proud he's a gay man."įinancial support from the LGBT community has helped Buttigieg defy expectations by raking in more than $7 million in just over two months. "I felt compelled to help," Burrell, a nursing student who is gay, said after the event. When Burrell later saw him in person in a cramped upstate South Carolina auditorium, he knew he had to do it again. GREENVILLE, South Carolina (AP) - Jonah Burrell first contributed to Pete Buttigieg's campaign after watching the first prominent openly gay presidential candidate on television.