Hillary Clinton, outraised by Bernie Sanders in January and facing a prolonged Democratic primary race against the Vermont senator, is planning an intense family fundraising spree to Democratic strongholds in February that could net millions of dollars.
Hillary, Bill and Chelsea Clinton have 32 fundraisers scheduled this month, according to invitations reviewed by CNN, a considerable investment of time for a presidential candidate who is currently locked in a tight contest with Sanders, a candidate who does most of his fundraising online.
Robby Mook, Clinton’s campaign manager, admitted Thursday that Sanders outraised the Clinton campaign when he raised $20 million in January and will likely have the resources needed to campaign “into the spring.” Clinton’s campaign said they raised $15 million last month.
“I recognized in probably the summer of last year, when those first fundraising reports came on, that Senator Sanders was going to be able to raise a lot of money,” Mook said at a Bloomberg Politics breakfast. “I believe he will have the resources to push this campaign well into the spring and we recognize this. And look, he outraised us in January.”
Sanders has made Clinton’s connections to big money donors, particularly on Wall Street, an issue in the Democratic race. The Vermont senator knocked Clinton for leaving Iowa last week to fundraise in Philadelphia and New York, and Clinton preemptively canceled a Friday fundraiser in Boston. The event, which was hosted by a venture capitalist with ties to Bain Capital, would have been an easy event for Sanders to use against Clinton.
Hillary Clinton will raise money in Wisconsin, Florida, Virginia, Illinois, Nevada, California and South Carolina in February, according to the invitations. Bill and Chelsea Clinton will headline events in Michigan, Ohio, Rhode Island, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Nebraska, New York, Colorado, Florida and London, England.
Hillary Clinton’s events are hosted by a wide array of people, including art traders, marketing executives, diplomats, investment bankers, movie producers and tech executives.
The Democratic frontrunner’s fundraising blitz starts February 12 with what is being billed as a post-debate fundraiser.
Clinton will spend February 15 in Florida, where she will headline three fundraisers: One hosted by Gary Nader, an art entrepreneur, another by Helene and Roy Schwedelson, CEO of Worldata, an email marketing firm, and lastly one by hosted by Elaine Schuster, past chair of the Democratic National Committee’s Women’s Leadership Forum.
Two days after that, on February 17, Clinton will headline three fundraisers in Chicago, including one hosted by Antonio Gracias, CEO of Valor Equity Partners, a private equity firm, and an early investor in Uber and PayPal.
Las Vegas, California events
Clinton will headline a fundraiser on February 18 in Las Vegas ahead of Nevada’s February 20 caucuses. The event will be hosted by Byron Georgiou and Thérèse Collins Georgiou.
The day after the Nevada caucus, Clinton will start a two-day, five-fundraiser trip through California, where the candidate will headline events hosted by a mix of movie producers and tech executives.
Clinton will make stops in Menlo Park, Atherton and Piedmont, California on February 21, headlining events with Rebecca and Mike Ghielmetti, founders of a private real estate firm; Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, a tech executive; and Gisele and Omid Kordestani, an executive at Google.
Clinton headlines two fundraisers the next day, including one at the home of Ellen Goldsmith-Vein and Jon Vein in Los Angeles. Goldsmith-Vein is a movie producer and entertainment executive, and Vein is the co-founder and CEO of MarketShare.
The former secretary of state then travels across country to headline an evening fundraiser in South Carolina hosted by Lisa and Joe Rice, two Democratic donors from the Palmetto State. The South Carolina primary is five days later on February 27.
Bill Clinton in New York, Chelsea Clinton in London
Hillary Clinton will stay away from New York, the state that has been the most fertile ground for her fundraising for the last nine months. But Bill Clinton will not.
The former president will headline three events in New York on February 17, including one hosted by John Fitzpatrick, founder of Fitzpatrick Hotel Group, and another at Brooklyn Bowl, a bowling alley in the trendy Williamsburg neighborhood.
Chelsea Clinton will headline an array of events, including one in Omaha on February 17. The event will be hosted by Susie Buffett, Warren Buffett’s daughter. The former first daughter will also travel to to London to fundraise with American expatriates on February 23. Chelsea Clinton will be joined by Anna Wintour, editor of Vogue, for that event.
Hillary Clinton personally headlined 174 fundraisers in the first three quarters of her presidential campaign and her campaign brought in $112 million in 2015.
Due to a fuller schedule in early 2016 — with caucuses and primaries almost every week — it appears unlikely that Clinton will be able to keep pace with her 58 fundraisers each quarter.