PORTLAND, Maine — Leading up to their victories in Maine’s Republican and Democratic caucuses, respectively, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders amplified fundraising efforts and took the lead in the cash race, too.
Sanders jumped ahead of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for the first time in February, according to disclosures filed Sunday with the Federal Elections Commission.
The data show Sanders and Cruz had the strongest surges of support just before the caucuses, with Sanders tripling Clinton’s total for February, bringing in about $141,000. Sanders ended February with $343,317 raised to Clinton’s $317,680.
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Cruz disclosed raising about $18,000 from Maine, breaking away from a tie in fundraising in January with Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who dropped out after losing to Donald Trump in his home state.
Trump, who has funded his campaigns with personal loans he could recoup later through fundraising, collected about as much from Maine donors in February as Jeb Bush, whose flagging candidacy ended Feb. 20 after losing in South Carolina.
The disclosures don’t count all small donations, but those for contributors who have given or are expected to give more than $200 throughout the campaign.
So far, those donation patterns have provided clearer comparisons on the Democratic side, where the race has been more clearly defined since the start. On the Republican side, the donations tell a story of upsets for some of the strongest supporters, as the three top fundraisers already are out of the race.
In total, Maine donors have given about $1.1 million, with $672,171 going to Democratic candidates and $406,357 going to Republican candidates.
Beyond dollar amounts, the finance disclosures also show how many donors at that level contributed to the campaigns, with Cruz garnering the steadiest support from a broader base than his challengers in the weeks before the caucus.
Cruz ended up taking all but two counties; Sanders won a majority of votes in all 16 counties.
Through February, both also had the most geographically diverse base of contributor support, with Cruz netting contributions from Caribou to Kittery and Sanders finding support as far south and even farther north, in Fort Kent.
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The latest finance reports also represent the likely end to Maine contributions to candidates who won’t end up winning the presidential nomination.
So far, Maine donors have given at least $354,000 to candidates who have dropped out. The outcome of the two-way fight between Clinton and Sanders, who faces an uphill battle to the nomination, would double that amount.
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The next states holding primaries or caucuses will vote Tuesday, for both parties in Arizona and Utah and Democrats in Idaho.