Democratic candidates for president have begun filing their fundraising reports, with the deadline coming up on July 15. U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) has not yet filed a report, but he said his campaign saw its best fundraising in the days after the first Democratic debate.
Ryan still admitted it’s been an uphill climb.
“I don’t have a big Ivy League network like most of the candidates have. I’m not from a big coastal state with a huge financing apparatus, but we’re building it out," Ryan said. "I’m really excited, and I’m glad the debate helped us raise some money, so we’re just going to keep getting the message out.”
Ryan is hopeful he’ll be on the stage when candidates face off in the next debates July 30-31. To qualify, candidates must raise money from at least 65,000 donors, or have a 1% showing in three polls.
“Once we get out and people hear us, they like what we say,” Ryan says. “And they want to support us, so we just want to keep things rolling.”
While unions provided Ryan's congressional campaign with thousands of dollars in the past year, he says his presidential campaign is mostly being supplemented by individual donations.
