Shane Goldmacher and Thomas Kaplan

Buttigieg, 37, is the first presidential contender to disclose an estimate of his fundraising total for the quarter. The haul is expected to place him, financially, in the upper half of a sprawling 2020 primary field that features a half-dozen senators.

“This is a big number for us,” Buttigieg wrote to supporters in an early Monday email. “We are not part of the national political machine. We started with just about 20,000 people on our email list, and not many people even knew who I was.”

Buttigieg’s announcement kicks off a highly anticipated moment in the 2020 campaign’s opening phase, when the Democratic hopefuls will reveal their fundraising totals for the first three months of the year. Those results offer early evidence of who is generating excitement among the party’s grassroots, an especially important factor this year given the intense focus on raising money from small donors.

Already, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke have announced sizable fundraising hauls immediately after declaring their candidacies. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has lagged in early fundraising, even as she tries to distinguish herself from the Democratic field by forgoing high-dollar fundraisers.

Presidential candidates must report their first-quarter fundraising to the Federal Election Commission by April 15. It is up to the individual campaigns to decide when — or whether — to announce their totals before then. Buttigieg’s quick announcement Monday, immediately after the close of the first quarter, allowed him to command the spotlight, at least for a few hours, as he seeks to establish his candidacy as more than a long-shot bid.

Buttigieg, who is technically still only exploring a campaign, has said he has already surpassed the 65,000 donors needed to garner a spot on the Democratic National Committee’s primary debate stage, even as some better-known rivals have suggested they do not yet have that many.

In an email to supporters in mid-March, Buttigieg said that his campaign had accumulated some 76,000 donors. At that point, 98 percent of the campaign’s donations had been under $200, and 66 percent of its total fundraising had come from donations under that threshold.

Buttigieg’s fundraising jumped after he appeared on a CNN town hall-style event earlier in March and impressed Democratic activists and donors, as he fielded questions in rolled-up white shirt sleeves and a blue tie. His campaign announced that he raised $600,000 in the 24 hours after his appearance.

An openly gay veteran and former Rhodes scholar, Buttigieg has made numerous appearances on national television in recent weeks seeking to lift his political profile. Late last month he told supporters via email that he was setting a $500,000 fundraising goal by the end of the month. He hit the figure in less than 24 hours. He set another $500,000 goal. Again, he reached it in a 24-hour period.

Other candidates are expected to post larger sums than Buttigieg. Sanders raised $10 million in his first week as a presidential candidate. O’Rourke raised $6.1 million in less than 24 hours as a candidate and more than $1 million over the weekend.

This article originally appeared in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/01/us/politics/pete-buttiegieg-fundraising.html" id="5453f45c-0f17-3db2-a55f-692442f260d8">The New York Times</a>.

Buttigieg Says He Raised $7 Million in First Quarter for 2020 Bid

Pete Buttigieg announced Monday that his presidential campaign had raised more than $7 million in the first quarter of 2019, a significant sum for a mayor who was little known outside of South Bend, Indiana, only a few months ago.

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Shane Goldmacher and Thomas Kaplan

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Buttigieg Says He Raised $7 Million in First Quarter for 2020 Bid