Record Breaking Total For Non-elected Candidate, Over 1,000 Contributions From 900+ Donors, $825K+ Cash On Hand

Following the close of the first reporting period, mayoral candidate and former Deputy Attorney General Thiru Vignarajah announced raising over $1,000,000 in advance of the first critical reporting deadline of the 2020 mayoral campaign, breaking a string of fundraising records for Baltimore City.

The campaign’s efforts gained significant momentum this fall, raising a spectacular $775K+ in donations since unveiling a 26 page crime plan on November 11. This includes more than $400,000 in contributions in the first seven days of 2020. It is notable that the campaign’s fundraising took off after the field solidified in late Fall.

The campaign also reported over 1,000 contributions from 900+ donors, with $825K+ cash on hand as the race enters the final 100 days of the primary. The campaign plans to use the funds to continue relentlessly spreading a disciplined message of strong, fearless leadership committed to ending the bloodshed through TV, social media, and mass visual advertising, as well as an unprecedented door-knocking program.

“I am incredibly honored and humbled at the level of support our campaign and our vision for Baltimore has generated these last few months,” said mayoral candidate and former Deputy Attorney General Thiru Vignarajah. “When standing up to the political establishment, you are both a target and an underdog. No matter the approach of other campaigns, we will remain focused on delivering concrete solutions to the city’s biggest problems. That is what has inspired this remarkable level of support so far and that will remain the core of our strategy. Make no mistake, we face a formidable field and this campaign is just getting started. There is nothing more important, however, than ending the crisis of violence, and I will be doing everything in my power to get that message out, on the ground, to every corner of the city over these pivotal next 100 days.”

To put these fundraising totals in perspective, Vignarajah already raised more, without self-funding, than any unelected candidate in Baltimore City history through an entire campaign. The campaign has also raised more ($1M+) and has significantly more cash on hand ($825K+) than Catherine Pugh, who led all major candidates, at the time of this January filing in 2016; the then-State Senator had raised $647K over a year and only had $664,506 in cash on hand.

Raising this level of resources has required and generated both momentum and enthusiasm, critical aspects of any successful campaign that self-funded candidates in the past have lacked.

These totals reflect a remarkable combination of small and big donors, with 52% percent of the campaign’s donors contributing under $100, while also receiving more max-out, $6,000 contributions (over 100) than any Baltimore City campaign in history. The campaign smashed these milestones without accepting contributions from PACs, lobbyists, or the regressive cash bail industry.

The campaign noted that as the cash on hand shows, it is a disciplined and cost-effective campaign with a low burn rate (under 20%). This includes significant expenditures on TV spots on network and cable television.

Notable supporters of the campaign include:

Thurgood Marshall Jr; Tom Rothman, Chairman of Sony Pictures; Steve Sachs, former Attorney General of Maryland, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland; Chuck Howard, now—Maryland State Prosecutor; Frank Burch, Chairman Emeritus, DLA Piper; Patti Solis Doyle, Senior Advisor to Obama for America ('08, '12); Neera Tanden, President of the Center for American Progress; Jon & Laura Arnold, philanthropists; Joe Sakran, Hopkins Trauma Surgeon and victim of gun violence, leader of #ThisIsOurLane movement; David Kennedy, criminologist and architect of Ceasefire model used in Baltimore during downturn in crime; Morris Offit, CEO of Offit Capital and former chair of the board of Trustees for Johns Hopkins; Wilhelm Joseph, Executive Director of Maryland Legal Aid