Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush raised $13.4 million in the third quarter of the year, surpassing most of the rest of the field while sharply underperforming his own record earlier this year.
The haul, which his campaign announced Thursday afternoon, is second only to the roughly $20 million retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson raised in the same period.
In a troubling sign for Bush, he burned through roughly $11.5 million of his stash from July through September, to end the period with $10.3 million in the bank. In terms of his available cash, Bush started October behind Texas Sen. Ted Cruz ($13.5 million), Carson ($11.5 million), and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio ($11 million).
The former Florida governor — and son and brother of two U.S. presidents who both proved fundraising dynamos in their time — launched his candidacy intending to post “shock and awe” campaign cash totals that would separate him from the field. And Right to Rise, the Super PAC dedicated to his bid, raised more than $100 million in the first six months of the year, an eye-popping sum. (That account only discloses its totals twice a year and won’t report again until January.) But a frustrating summer for Bush, in which Donald Trump dominated media coverage and built and sustained a healthy lead in the polls, now reflects in a fundraising performance that places him on par with the pack.
Trump himself, who’s said he’s self-funding but spending little thanks to earned media coverage of his bid, hasn’t reported his totals yet.
Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, meanwhile, raised $6.8 million, a major improvement after a slow start to her bid. She finished the period with $5.5 million on hand.
Rick Perry, who dropped out of the presidential race in September, raised $300,000 in the third quarter. Bobby Jindal, who is still in, raised $600,000.