Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Where Trump’s California Funders Are, and What They’re Giving
gvw_calmatters
By CalMatters
Published 6 years ago on
July 19, 2019

Share

This may come as surprise to the president, the national media and more than a few Californians, but there are plenty of Trump supporters in the “Resistance State.” And since the beginning of the year, they’ve been spending a lot of money to keep the president in the White House.


Ben Christopher
CALmatters

New campaign finance statistics show President Donald Trump raised $3.2 million — more money from the California donor class than all of his Democratic challengers but two.
Not only that, but the Trump campaign collected more from itemized small donors — those who gave in increments of less than $100 at a time — than anyone else in the field. The president bested even Democratic contender Bernie Sanders in the small-donor sweepstakes.
But it’s not all pixie dust for Trump in California: 89% of all itemized presidential campaign donations from Californians went to contenders out to defeat him.
We took a look at how much cash those Democratic presidential candidates are raising in California — and where it’s coming from.
Since the beginning of the 2020 election cycle (which the president officially kicked off a few hours after his inauguration in 2017), Californian Trump supporters have showered $7.2 million in itemized contributions on the president.
The Federal Election Commission publishes details on contributions made by any supporter who has given at least $200 in a single year. These are known as itemized contributions.
More than $3 million has come since the beginning of this year.

A Sign of Strength

Trump’s 2019 haul puts him ahead of the entire Democratic field, with two exceptions. Sen. Kamala Harris has raised over $7.5 million in her home state since Jan. 1 and Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, has received over $4.8 million in California cash.
Though the top Trump-giving ZIP codes all are clustered along the Southern California coast — the wealthy enclaves of Beverly Hills, Orange County, and San Diego — the president outraised every other Democratic candidate combined in 619 ZIP codes across the state. That’s more than a third of all California ZIP codes with at least one itemized contribution.
The president also has been uniquely dependent on small donations of less than $100. They account for 93% of all itemized contributions from California, and have provided his campaign with nearly half the money he has raised in individual contributions from the state this year.
And that might be a sign of strength.


Remember that these contributions are only reported by federal election regulations if they come from donors who have given at least $200 over the course of the year. Anyone who is giving less than $100 but still showing up in these published figures is, almost by definition, a regular contributor.
Giving $25 here and $50 there, this sizable network of disaffected California Republicans is providing a steady stream of small, but reliable cash infusions to the president’s reelection campaign. Many political experts also see small donors as a good proxy for voter enthusiasm.
And no surprise, the president seems to have raised the most money in the conservative swaths of the state: the Central Valley, the suburbans segments of southern California, the Inland Empire, and the rural north.

Imperfect Measure of Popular Support

While the map may look surprisingly red given California’s solidly blue reputation, by one metric the president raised less than you might expect.

While the map may look surprisingly red given California’s solidly blue reputation, by one metric the president raised less than you might expect.
In total, Trump raised about 11% of all presidential campaign dollars in California this year. Compare that to his most recent estimated approval numbers. According to a poll put out by Quinnipiac University, 35% of California voters approve of the president’s job performance.
That’s a dismally low approval rating by any standard. But it’s also a reminder that campaign fundraising is, at best, an imperfect measure of popular support.
Case in point: the Quinnipiac poll also found that Harris and former Vice President Joe Biden were neck-and-neck among Democrats and Democratic-leaning registered voters in California, with Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren closely behind. But among those who like to throw money at political campaigns, Harris is far and away the favorite in California.
Meanwhile, Buttigieg — who outraised Harris in the second quarter of this year (though his fundraising totals were down in June) — only won the support of 3% of the survey’s respondents.


See which Democratic presidential contenders are winning the primary campaign cash scramble — in each ZIP code in California  with this CalMatters analysis.
CALmatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.

DON'T MISS

Elon Musk Reclaims Top Spot on Forbes’ Billionaires List

DON'T MISS

California Just Blew Its First Deadline for Voter-Approved Healthcare Measure

DON'T MISS

Trump Administration Halts Dozens of Research Grants at Princeton University

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Sheriff’s Pilot Takes His Last Flight as He Retires After 31 Years of Service

DON'T MISS

A Palestinian From the West Bank Is First Detainee Under 18 to Die in Israeli Prison, Officials Say

DON'T MISS

How Safe Is It to Walk to School? Fresno County Wants to Find Out

DON'T MISS

Baseball Is Back! How to Listen to Your MLB Favorites and the Grizzlies

DON'T MISS

Trump Says He’s Settled on a Tariff Plan That Is Set to Take Effect Wednesday

DON'T MISS

Auto Sales Surged in Anticipation of Trump’s Tariffs

DON'T MISS

Raid Or Rumor? Reports Of Immigrations Sweeps Are Warping Life In CA’s Central Valley

UP NEXT

California Just Blew Its First Deadline for Voter-Approved Healthcare Measure

UP NEXT

Lakers Hold Off Rockets With 6 3-Pointers Apiece From Dorian Finney-Smith, Gabe Vincent

UP NEXT

Athletics Bat Boy Stewart Thalblum Takes Down Drone in Left Field

UP NEXT

NFL Postpones Tush Push Decision but Passes Other Rule Changes, AP Source Says

UP NEXT

March Madness: It’s South Carolina vs. Texas and UCLA vs. UConn in Women’s Final Four

UP NEXT

What to Watch in Tuesday’s Big Elections in Wisconsin and Florida

UP NEXT

Major Layoffs Begin at Health Agencies That Track Disease and Regulate Food

UP NEXT

CA Snowpack Is Near-Average. What Does This Mean for Water Supplies?

UP NEXT

U.S. Bank Executive Terry Dolan Dies in Plane Crash Near Minneapolis

UP NEXT

California Gov. Newsom Says the Democratic Brand Is ‘Toxic’

Fresno County Sheriff’s Pilot Takes His Last Flight as He Retires After 31 Years of Service

9 hours ago

A Palestinian From the West Bank Is First Detainee Under 18 to Die in Israeli Prison, Officials Say

10 hours ago

How Safe Is It to Walk to School? Fresno County Wants to Find Out

10 hours ago

Baseball Is Back! How to Listen to Your MLB Favorites and the Grizzlies

11 hours ago

Trump Says He’s Settled on a Tariff Plan That Is Set to Take Effect Wednesday

11 hours ago

Auto Sales Surged in Anticipation of Trump’s Tariffs

11 hours ago

Raid Or Rumor? Reports Of Immigrations Sweeps Are Warping Life In CA’s Central Valley

11 hours ago

House Speaker Johnson Fails to Squash a Proxy Voting Effort From New Moms in Congress

12 hours ago

UN Agency Closes Its Remaining Gaza Bakeries as Food Supplies Dwindle Under Israeli Blockade

12 hours ago

Hooters Goes Bust and Files for Bankruptcy Protection

12 hours ago

Elon Musk Reclaims Top Spot on Forbes’ Billionaires List

Elon Musk has reclaimed his position as the world’s wealthiest individual, according to Forbes’ 39th annual World’s Billio...

7 hours ago

7 hours ago

Elon Musk Reclaims Top Spot on Forbes’ Billionaires List

9 hours ago

California Just Blew Its First Deadline for Voter-Approved Healthcare Measure

Nassau Hall at Princeton University is in Princeton, N.J., Oct. 8, 2024. (AP File)
9 hours ago

Trump Administration Halts Dozens of Research Grants at Princeton University

After 31 years of service, Fresno County Sheriff’s Deputy IV and Pilot Michael Sill is retiring, having logged over 10,000 flight hours.
9 hours ago

Fresno County Sheriff’s Pilot Takes His Last Flight as He Retires After 31 Years of Service

Khalid Ahmad holds a poster of his 17-year-old son, Waleed, who died in an Israeli prison, that reads in Arabic, "The hero prisoner Martyr, mercy and eternity for our righteous Martyrs," in the West Bank town of Silwad, northeast of Ramallah Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (AP/Nasser Nasser)
10 hours ago

A Palestinian From the West Bank Is First Detainee Under 18 to Die in Israeli Prison, Officials Say

10 hours ago

How Safe Is It to Walk to School? Fresno County Wants to Find Out

11 hours ago

Baseball Is Back! How to Listen to Your MLB Favorites and the Grizzlies

Vehicles at an Audi showroom in Miami, March 29, 2025. President Donald Trump has said that tariffs would encourage auto companies and their suppliers to move to the U.S. (Saul Martinez/The New York Times)
11 hours ago

Trump Says He’s Settled on a Tariff Plan That Is Set to Take Effect Wednesday

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend