A political action committee in support of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign raised a total of $10.25 million, one of its leaders said Monday, a signal that his long-term challenge to President Biden has gained ground among donors, including many Republicans.
The precise level of fundraising by the super PAC, American Values 2024, won’t be known until later this month, when political action committees submit their midyear reports to the Federal Election Commission. But Tony Lyons, Mr. Kennedy’s editor and super PAC co-chair, said the $10.25 million included two « very large » donations each exceeding $1 million, and the contributions came from a mix of Republicans « right in the middle ». and Democrats.
Mr. Kennedy, a 69-year-old environmental lawyer and prominent vaccine and prescription drug skeptic, often cites convoluted statistics and unsubstantiated theories. He has gained a foothold in the race, even as he has railed against the Democratic Party, accused public health officials of corruption and increasingly embraced conservative figures and causes.
Mr. Kennedy will not come close to summoning the kind of financial support that will flow to Mr. Biden, who as sitting president is backed by the power of the Democratic National Committee and a robust donor infrastructure.
Kennedy’s support among Democrats reached 20% in polls, although a poll conducted in June by the Saint Anselm College Survey Center he put his Democratic support in New Hampshire at 9%..
He also appealed to potential non-party voters: A Quinnipiac University survey in June it found that 40% of Republicans viewed it favorably, compared with 31% of independents and 25% of Democrats.
Mr. Biden’s campaign has yet to announce fundraising numbers.
The American Values 2024 super PAC formed last year as the People’s Pharma Movement, and was initially funded with $500,000 in contributions from Mark Gorton, an investor in New York City, the documents show. Mr. Gorton, who supports Mr. Kennedy’s candidacy, said he knows Mr. Kennedy through the « freedom of health » movement, which widely opposes vaccinations and regulating health practices.
The committee was renamed last spring after Kennedy entered the race for the Democratic nomination in April. Most of the $10.25 million has come since then, Lyons said. As recently as the first week of June, the PAC’s total haul was $5.7 million, committee officials said, indicating nearly $5 million more came in the weeks leading up to the deadline. June 30 report.
The range of political affiliations among the donors, Lyons said, showed that « there really are people across the political spectrum who feel it will fight corruption in government and the corporate takeover of government agencies. »
In recent speeches and appearances, Mr. Kennedy has leaned on his family’s historic political history and framed his race as an attempt to « heal the divide » in American politics, which he described as captive to corporate power.
PAC is separate from its campaign, which sent requests last week to reach a $5 million goal to close out its first full quarter of fundraising. On Friday, the campaign boasted a haul of $1 million in a 24-hour period.
Dennis Kucinich, the former presidential candidate and former Ohio congressman who is serving as Kennedy’s campaign manager, said the campaign is expected to make a fundraising announcement this week. The official numbers will be filed with the FEC this month.
A second group in support of Mr. Kennedy, Common Sense PAC, was formed in Los Angeles in April by Sofia Karstens, an actress who has been active in the health freedom movement. Common Sense hosted a fundraiser for Mr. Kennedy last month in San Francisco alongside two tech investors, David Sacks and Chamath Palihapitiya. That event raised nearly $1 million, Ms. Karstens said.
Ms. Karstens did not have the latest PAC total fundraiser immediately available on Monday.
