(WASHINGTON) — Democrats are settling into the year with some of their strongest February grassroots fundraising numbers on record, according to the Democratic National Committee, which says it brought in $9 million during the critical first full month of Donald Trump’s presidency with an average donation of less than $35.
In a memo obtained exclusively by ABC News, the DNC says the haul was from more than 200,000 grassroots donors across all 50 states. They attribute the gains, in part, to the fact that “Americans are ready to stand up and fight back against the Trump administration’s overwhelmingly unpopular agenda.” In February 2016, following the first full month of Trump’s previous term, the party recorded pulling in less than $5 million in grassroots fundraising.
The haul also comes amid Ken Martin’s first month as party chair. The DNC cites the Minnesota Democrat’s leadership as another reason they saw a boost in grassroots support. Top-performing fundraising emails, texts and peer-to-peer messages were signed by Martin in the month since his election on Feb. 1, the memo says.
But the fundraising increase comes as the Democratic Party grapples with low approval ratings and intraparty fighting around their overall direction and response to the Trump administration’s policies.
A few recent polls indicate that the general public does not see any one person as leading the Democratic Party. One, from CNN/SSRS published on Sunday, found no consensus among American adults over which Democratic leader “best reflects the core values of the Democratic Party,” while also showing that the Democratic Party’s favorability rating among Americans stands at a record low.
Just last week, a contentious battle brewed on Capitol Hill over whether to pass a GOP-approved government funding bill, hurled the party into discussions over their strategy and about potential changes in their leadership ranks.
The DNC, however, has recently made plays to carve out its own lane among the larger party as a leading voice in response to Trump and Republicans.
In the wake of the National Republican Congressional Committee’s recent calls for GOP House members to pull back on hosting in-person town hall events while constituents have become heated about DOGE’s cuts to the federal workforce, the DNC started pairing with other organizations and state parties across the country to host “People’s Town Halls” in competitive districts with vulnerable GOP House incumbents.
Another bright spot for Democrats in February, according to DNC fundraising data set to be publicly filed with the Federal Elections Commission later Thursday, is that this month marked the DNC’s best fundraising month via digital ads in an off-year, with more than $1 million raised.
“We expect significant return on investment by the 2026 midterms,” the DNC said in the memo.
The DNC is prioritizing “balancing high-performing fundraising formats” with “new content that educates donors and invites them to volunteer or give the DNC feedback to better understand their priorities in our fight against Donald Trump,” according to the memo.
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