Biden campaign starts 2020 with less cash on hand than top rivals

Former Vice President Joe Biden began 2020 with less cash on hand than his fellow top-tier Democratic presidential contenders, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings for the fourth quarter. 

Biden ended the fourth quarter with $8.9 million cash on hand, the same amount he rounded out the third quarter with. 

The amount is considerably less than the cash on hand of the three other top-polling candidates.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) rounded out the fourth quarter with $18.2 million cash on hand, while Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) ended the same period with around $13.7 million cash on hand. Former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s campaign had $14.5 million cash on hand at the end of 2019. 

The latest FEC data comes just days before Monday’s Iowa caucuses, where a number of polls show Biden and Sanders neck and neck. 

A Monmouth University poll released Wednesday showed 23 percent of likely caucusgoers saying Biden is their first choice, while 21 percent said Sanders was their top pick. 

Sanders’s high spending numbers combined with his strong, four-year-old organization on the ground in Iowa could be cause for concern for the Biden campaign. 

However, Greg Schultz, Biden’s campaign manager, assured supporters in a memo on Saturday that the campaign had the resources to successfully compete in the contests. 

“The month of January will be the campaign’s strongest month of fundraising since launch, with the vast majority of our growth coming through digital grassroots donations,” Schultz wrote. “Elections ultimately are not about money, they’re about having the right message and vision for the country. But you have to have the resources to compete, which we unequivocally do.”