Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign expects to have raised more than $ 45 million since starting her campaign in April, according to a campaign spokeswoman speaking ahead of the Federal Election Commission filings, a figure that would mark a record start to presidential fund-raising.
The $ 45 million figure, far more than she reported raising during the first few months of her last White House bid, is very likely to be more than any of her Democratic or Republican rivals raise for their campaigns. But it also reflects her dominance of the Democratic field: Unlike in 2007, there are no other Democratic candidates with substantial reach into the elite tier of Democratic donors and bundlers, and thus little competition.
And her campaign would not disclose what proportion of her donations came in the form of small donations, a critical measure of her grassroots appeal and ability to compete financially over the long haul.
Mrs. Clinton has been on a breakneck fund-raising schedule across the country to raise money and lay out her agenda at dozens of fund-raisers, many held in the penthouses or sprawling suburban homes of her leading donors. The campaign's "Hillstarters" program has been tapping a growing network of bundlers to raise $ 27,000 from friends, each of whom were asked to give the maximum donation for the primary campaign of $ 2,700.
But Democrats are far behind Republicans in "super PAC" fund-raising, which is poised to take on far more importance for both parties in the 2016 election cycle. The lead Democratic "super PAC" backing Mrs. Clinton, Priorities USA, is likely to fall short of the $ 15 million in contributions officials there had hoped to raise by the end of the second quarter. Super PACs backing Jeb Bush and Senator Ted Cruz of Texas are each most likely to report raising at least three times that amount.
Mrs. Clinton's formal paperwork — detailing not only how much she raised, but how reliant she is on large donors and how much her campaign is spending — is not due until July 15, making some aspects of her fund-raising difficult to assess.
But Mrs. Clinton's supporters argued that the quarterly number demonstrated the effectiveness of the campaign's early fund-raising strategy, focused on bringing in new donors and bundlers and making senior campaign staff accessible to those raising money for Mrs. Clinton.
"I think the message is clearly there that every contributor is a voter," said Ira Leesfield, a Florida trial lawyer who hosted a fund-raiser for Mrs. Clinton late last month. "They're really emphasizing reaching out to a broad base. They see that the small contributors, and people who are not giving to PACs, are being treated very well."
So far, Mrs. Clinton's campaign has decided to only raise money for the 2016 nominating contest to avoid the overspending and fiscal mismanagement that afflicted her failed 2008 presidential campaign. During her 2008 campaign, Mrs. Clinton suspended her candidacy when it appeared that Barack Obama had secured enough delegates to capture the Democratic nomination, and Mrs. Clinton's campaign was left with $ 23 million in campaign debt, including $ 13.1 million of her own money that she had lent to her campaign.
This time around, one of Mrs. Clinton's rivals in the nominating contest, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, has renounced super PACs and is relying on small donors to raise money. Another, former Gov. Martin O'Malley of Maryland, is tapping a mix of large and small donors. Neither has released their fundraising totals yet.
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