Scott Powers
Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg is heading to Orlando Wednesday for a ticketed, “grassroots” fundraiser in the afternoon and a more traditional big-money fundraiser in the evening.
His grassroots event, which will be with Parkland Mayor Christine Hunschofsky, is not being promoted as a public appearance.
Buttigieg is the South Bend, Ind., Mayor whose moderate appeal, particularly to younger voters, has elevated him to the top of the second tier of the crowd of 25 or so Democrats running for president.
He is planning a grassroots fundraiser at a publicly-undisclosed location at 5 p.m. Wednesday Then he will be going to a fundraising event at the Winter Park home of former U.S. Ambassador Robert “Bobby” Mandell.
Mandell was announced as a fundraising bundler for Buttigieg’s campaign in April.
The grassroots event is being advertised on social media. Location and other details are being offered to those who buy tickets, though they have not yet been distributed.
Tickets for the grassroots fundraiser start at $25 for a campaign “friend” and go up to $1,000 for a campaign “sponsor.”
RealClearPolitics’ running average of a half-dozen national polls has Buttigieg running a solid fifth in the Democrats’ field. However, he’s considerably back from the top tier, of former Vice President Joe Biden, and U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Kamala Harris of California. Fourth-place Harris’s average is 10.2 percent in the most recent tracked polls, and Buttigieg’s, 5.5 percent. Sixth is former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke of Texas, averaging 3 percent.
Buttigieg’s campaign reported raising nearly $25 million in the second quarter of 2019, a big bump up from the $7 million he raised in the first quarter of his campaign.
