Sen. Cory Booker said Monday that his 2020 presidential campaign reached its goal of raising $1.7 million by the end of September, enabling him to stay in the race.
”I have some incredible news, team. Last night at 8:16 p.m., we reached our $1.7 million goal. I’m so grateful that at the most critical moment of this campaign, thousands of people in all 50 states came together to give us the boost we needed,” the New Jersey Democrat wrote on Twitter.
The campaign earlier this month released a fundraising plea urging donors to contribute before the last day of the financial quarter on Sept. 30 because without it, “we do not see a legitimate long-term path forward.”
Booker thanked his supporters.
”You put us back on a trajectory where we know we can be competitive. There’s a viable path forward, and I’m staying in this race because I know we can win it,” he said in another posting.
Striking while the iron is hot, Booker called on contributors to get him to the $2 million mark.
”We still have a full day before the end-of-quarter fundraising deadline at 11:59 p.m. Help us keep the momentum going by giving again to help us raise another $216,495 for a total of $2 million,” Booker wrote.
The senator said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that the campaign crossed the threshold of 165,000 unique donors to qualify for the November debates.
“The surge and the momentum is great, but yeah, I still need help,” he said.
Booker has qualified for the October debates but hasn’t met the polling requirement for November.
To qualify, candidates must reach 3 percent in at least four national or early state polls.
Booker is averaging 1.5 percent in national polls, putting him in ninth place among the candidates, according to RealClear Politics.