Hillary raises $45m

WASHINGTON: Hillary Clinton announced on Wednesday she raised a record $45 million in the first quarter of her US presidential bid, putting the Democratic frontrunner in prime financial position in the opening months of her 2016 campaign.
“Here’s what we know: In the first quarter of this campaign, supporters gave more than $45 million,” Clinton wrote in a tweet.
Final figures will be released once her campaign files its fundraising report in July.
Signaling successful grassroots efforts to raise modest amounts across a broad platform of supporters, her campaign said that 91 percent of the donations from April through June were $100 or less.
Clinton officially launched her White House run on April 12.
In a Wednesday fundraising email, campaign manager Robby Mook described it as “a new record for this early in a campaign.”
It surpasses the $41.9 million raised by President Barack Obama in 2011 at the start of his re-election campaign, according to The Washington Post.
The donations, capped at $2,700 per individual, are to be used in the primary race for the party’s nomination.
Team Clinton had reportedly set a goal of raising $100 million in 2015.
The new haul leaves Clinton well ahead of her rivals for the Democratic nomination, including liberal Senator Bernie Sanders, former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley and Rhode Island ex-governor and senator Lincoln Chafee.
Candidates are expected to file their fundraising reports to the Federal Election Commission by July 15.
Clinton’s first-out-of-the-gate money announcement signals her team’s confidence in voter support as she gears up for a long-term campaign battle.