Still, Haley’s fundraising base is predominantly Republican. Over 3,000 large-dollar donors who previously gave to Trump in 2020 financially supported her campaign in January, and nearly 10,000 overall this cycle. Taken together, Haley’s ability to draw from both former Biden and Trump donors illustrates the coalition she has sought to piece together, which includes moderate and independent voters who are unhappy with Biden, Trump or both.
In total, Haley’s campaign raised $11.5 million and spent $13.1 million last month, according to the report her campaign filed late Tuesday. That makes January — the month of the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary — her highest-grossing month so far as she emerged as the sole GOP challenger to Trump. Her campaign reported having just shy of $13 million in the bank as of Jan. 31, compared to more than $30 million cash on hand reported by Trump’s campaign.
The former U.N. ambassador has tried to attract unaffiliated voters — she
noted on the campaign trail recently in her home state of South Carolina that anyone who did not vote in the Democratic primary earlier this month is eligible to vote for her this Saturday — and her allies have
more actively courted Democrats.
General election polls have
repeatedly shown Haley performing better against Biden than Trump, largely based on a subset of voters who prefer her to either. But those voters are a small enough group — and Trump has shown such domination of the GOP — that they have not been able to pull Haley to victory in any Republican primaries so far.
The financial numbers included in Haley’s campaign report do not represent the entirety of her fundraising; Team Stand for America, a joint fundraising committee between Haley’s campaign and other political committees she controls, does not have to file a disclosure with the Federal Election Commission until April.
And it’s clear that Haley is still plowing money into advertising as she tries to chase down Trump. Her campaign spent nearly $7.4 million on media production and placement, accounting for more than half of its spending.
The main pro-Haley super PAC, SFA Fund Inc., also reported spending nearly $13.7 million in January alone. That’s more than the major pro-Trump super PAC — MAGA Inc. — spent, and more than double what the pro-Trump operation spent on efforts like television advertising or get-out-the-vote efforts.
The super PAC is going for broke; it spent down to under $2 million in cash reserves at the end of the month. Cash on hand matters much less for super PACs than for campaigns because super PACs can get one or several donors to write massive checks to fund operations.
But notably, SFA Fund Inc., did not receive a single seven-figure check in January. Instead, her haul was buffered by people giving five and six figures.
