ABC News(NEW YORK) — The campaign of South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg released a list of top bundlers on Friday night as he faces increasing pressure to shed light on his fundraising.
The release of the bundlers list comes as part of the campaign’s effort to provide increased transparency of his campaign, following scrutiny from 2020 rivals, progressive activists and the public.
Buttigieg in recent days started opening his closed-door fundraisers to pool reporters and disclosed a client list from his former employer, the elite consulting firm McKinsey and Co. Buttigieg also recently released 12 years of tax returns.
The list of 113 bundlers consists of people who have raised at least $25,000, which Buttigieg’s campaign touted in a statement is a lower threshold than previous Democratic presidential nominees Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, who released data on bundlers who’d raised at least $50,000.
“Pete’s campaign has been more transparent than any other campaign this cycle,” the campaign said.
As the campaign noted in the statement, this isn’t the first time Buttigieg has released names of bundlers, but Friday’s list appears to be the most comprehensive.
The list shows numerous wealthy financiers and Wall Street executives, as well as high-dollar bundlers for Obama and Clinton, have helped raise money for Buttigieg. This includes California-based consultant Christine Forester, who was among Obama’s top fundraisers. Forester has helped raise money for several other Democratic campaigns.
Austin Mayor Steve Adler, who introduced Buttigieg at his campaign launch in South Bend earlier this year, appears on the list, as does Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., the first congressman to endorse him. Also among those to raise money for Buttigieg, according to the list, is Adam Bart, a partner at McKinsey.
The previously little-known 37-year-old mayor, who quickly gained prominence after jumping into the presidential race, has proven to be among the top fundraisers in the 2020 Democratic primary field, raising more than $51 million through September, trailing only Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, who’ve sworn off big-money donors.
Warren, in particular, has recently taken aim at Buttigieg and former Vice President Joe Biden for schmoozing with wealthy donors at high-dollar fundraisers as she pitches herself as the only one who can fight corruption.
Buttigieg hit back, saying she was setting up “purity tests” for fundraising.
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