what a shame

Super bad news for Mike Pence’s hopes of becoming President

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Mike Pence
Mike Pence (Photo: Gage Skidmore, via CC BY-SA-2.0)

Mike Pence’s campaign to become the Republican nominee for President is running on fumes due to a lack of funding.

According to NBC News, the state of Pence’s finances could force him to pull out of the race sooner rather than later.

Candidates had to submit their third-quarter financial information by the end of yesterday. Pence’s campaign says he raised $3.3 million and has $1.2 million cash on hand, but also $620,000 in debt.

Compared to other candidates, that doesn’t leave him a lot of money to campaign with. Pence himself plowed $150,000 of his own money into his campaign.

NBC notes, “Racking up debt, in particular, has long been a sign of presidential campaigns in trouble — and potentially on the verge of ending.” It compares to the position to that of then-Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker at the end of the third quarter in 2015. Walker had $1 million on hand, but $162,000 in debt. He dropped out of the race after his debts spiraled in the final quarter of 2015.

Donald Trump rakes in the most cash

How do Pence’s finances compare with other candidates?

Donald Trump, the frontrunner, has traditionally always managed to raise a huge amount from small donations from his MAGA followers. According to The Hill, he raised around $45 million over the past quarter ($36 million of which can be spent on campaigning for the primary).

Ron DeSantis raised $15 million and Nikki Haley brought in more than $11 million. South Carolina Senator Tim Scott raised $6 million over the last quarter. Alongside the existing money he’d already banked, Scott has $11.6 million available for him to use during the primary.

NBC notes that of the $1.2 million Pence has, at least $200,000 can’t be used for the primaries as it came from donors who have already given the maximum amount allowed for primary campaigns. It would have to be held for use in a general election only… although that’s looking decidedly unlikely for Pence.

The third Republican primary takes place on November 8th. To qualify, candidates need to prove they’ve secured over 70,000 individual donations. The Pence campaign declined to comment on whether it’s hit this benchmark yet.

Joe Biden and George Santos

Meanwhile, the Biden re-election campaign is doing well for donations. According to a statement from the Biden-Harris campaign, “Team Biden-Harris announced that it raised more than $71 million in the third quarter of 2023 — on par with the Q2 haul — demonstrating continued strong support and enthusiasm for the President and Vice President’s reelection campaign.

“The team is also reporting today that it has a historic nearly $91 million in cash on hand, the highest total amassed by any Democratic candidate in history at this point in the cycle.”

If the state of Pence’s finances are bleak, the former Vice President can take consolation that things could be worse.

Scandal-hit gay Rep. George Santos submitted his third-quarter finances yesterday. It showed he’d raised a negative amount of money due to his treasurer becoming aware of prior debt.

Santos is facing 23 charges relating to wire fraud, money laundering, and theft of public funds. He denies all charges.

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