Buying of the President

Published — September 21, 2016

27 numbers to know about the White House race

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, left, and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, right. AP/File

Latest facts, figures and curiosities that help explain Election 2016

Introduction

Hillary Clinton painted August green, according to newly released campaign finance disclosures.

The Democratic presidential candidate raised more money than Republican Donald Trump.

Clinton’s campaign spent more money than the Trump campaign, too.

And Clinton enjoyed an $18 million cash-on-hand advantage over her opponent at August’s end — not including an even larger disparity when big-money super PACs are taken into account.

Now, as the general election enters its final phase, here are 27 key facts, figures and curiosities from the Center for Public Integrity that help explain the 2016 White House race to date:

Yahoo! Inc. President and CEO Marissa Mayer speaks during an interview. Wikimedia Commons

Approximate number of donors to Democrat Hillary Clinton’s campaign during August: 700,000

Portion of contributions from women: 60 percent

Estimated portion of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s donors this election who are men: 73 percent

Amount Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer donated to Clinton’s campaign in August: $2,700

Amount casino magnate Sheldon Adelson donated to Trump’s campaign last month: $2,700

Amount that megadonor Robert Mercer-backed pro-Trump super PAC Make America Number 1 paid last month to Cambridge Analytica, a firm in which Mercer has reportedly invested: $412,000

Number of donors’ personal email addresses — information rarely released publicly — that pro-Trump super PAC Great America PAC included in its August report: 336

Amount that Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz and his wife, Cari Tuna, gave to the pro-Clinton League of Conservation Voters’ super PAC in August: $5 million

Amount the couple pledged to spend to boost Democrats this election: $20 million

Amount billionaire investor George Soros* has donated to pro-Clinton super PAC Priorities USA Action so far this election: $9.5 million

Minimum portion of living current or former U.S. presidents expected to vote for Clinton in November: 4/5

Rank of Orlando, Florida, and Tampa, Florida, respectively, among media markets seeing most TV ads during the past month: 1, 2

Portion of TV ads in Orlando and Tampa during that period sponsored by Clinton and her allies: 2/3

Number of Electoral College votes awarded by Florida: 29

Number awarded by Maine’s 2nd Congressional District: 1

Approximate amount spent in Maine last month by a super PAC touting Libertarian Gary Johnson: $93,000

Minimum level of support Johnson needed in polls to qualify for the first presidential debate: 15 percent

Amount the Commission on Presidential Debates calculated he had: 8.4 percent

Amount of campaign cash Johnson raised in August: $5 million

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaks at the Fox News town hall in Detroit on March 7, 2016. Carlos Osorio/AP

Amount former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders had in the bank entering September: $5 million

What Sanders’ campaign collectively still owes almost two-dozen police departments, fire departments, sheriff offices and local governments for event security fees: $445,000

Date on which Republican Scott Walker dropped out of the 2016 presidential race: Sept. 21, 2015

Amount Walker’s campaign is still in debt: $457,000

Amount Walker earned renting out his campaign’s list of supporters in August 2016: $70,000

Ben Carson at his presidential candidacy announcement event in May 2015. Paul Sancya/AP

Amount Republican Ben Carson’s failed presidential campaign transferred last month to My Faith Votes — a “nonpartisan movement of the church in America that will motivate believers to act on their faith by casting an informed vote based on a biblical worldview”: $500,000

Amount that the political action committee of Twitter, where much of the nation’s online political conversations take place, contributed to politicians in August: $0

Portion of members of Congress who have Twitter accounts: 100 percent

Chris Zubak-Skees contributed to this report

* The Center for Public Integrity receives funding from the Open Society Foundations, which Soros funds. A complete list of Center for Public Integrity funders is found here.

Read more in Money and Democracy

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