Release: Sarah McBride Raises $1M Faster Than All Past First-Time Delaware Congressional Candidates
Nearly a Year Ahead of the 2024 Election, McBride’s Fundraising Marks Major Milestone for Historic Congressional Campaign
Campaign Touts Impressive Grassroots Support with over 450 Volunteers Engaging Voters in Every County
Wilmington, DE— Congressional candidate and Delaware State Senator Sarah McBride has now raised over $1,000,000 for her campaign. With nearly a year until the 2024 election, McBride has raised $1M faster than any other Delaware congressional candidate in their respective first campaigns. In comparison, John Carney raised $1.5M by September of his 2010 election year, and Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester raised $1.1M over her entire 2016 election.
Upon learning the news, McBride called to thank Marissa L, a small business owner from Lewes, whose four-dollar contribution pushed the campaign over $1 million in total money raised.
“I am truly humbled by the support and generous contributions we've received from well over a thousand of our neighbors across Delaware,” said Senator McBride. “This outpouring of support not only propels our campaign forward, but also underscores the collective belief that positive change is possible when we come together. We have a long road ahead of us and I look forward to meeting voters from every corner of our state as we continue to prove that small states can do big things.”
McBride has maintained strong fundraising since launching her race in June. She raised over $360,000 in the 3rd quarter, which was more than double the announced third-quarter fundraising total of her nearest opponent. Before that, McBride posted impressive Q2 figures in which she raised more than $400,000 despite being a candidate for Delaware’s at-large congressional seat for only five days. Further, the campaign has recruited over 450 volunteers who are engaging their neighbors, friends and family about McBride’s historic campaign.
A September poll commissioned by Human Rights Campaign Equality Votes PAC showed McBride with a substantial lead, leading the primary with 44% of the vote among likely Democratic voters.
In a video announcing her candidacy, McBride vows to fight for Delaware families and build on her successful track record of passing critical policies, such as the landmark Healthy Delaware Families Act, and improving the lives of her constituents. During this legislative session, McBride championed and helped pass major legislation including gun safety reforms, historic investments in lead poisoning prevention and remediation, significant anti-corruption policies, protections for DREAMers and other undocumented workers, investments in clean energy, and expanded access to health care.
McBride has been endorsed by a growing number of Delaware elected officials including Attorney General Kathy Jennings, State Auditor Lydia York, Delaware Insurance Commissioner Trinidad Navarro, former Lt. Governor and Attorney General Matt Denn and more than twenty other Delaware elected officials, community organizers, labor leaders and community and national advocacy organizations.
Members of the state legislature endorsing McBride include: Senate President Pro Tempore David P. Sokola; Senate Majority Leader Bryan Townsend; Senate Majority Whip Elizabeth “Tizzy” Lockman; Rep. Nnamdi Chukwuocha; Rep. Kendra Johnson; Rep. Debra Heffernan; Rep. Krista Griffith; Rep. DeShanna Neal; Rep. Sophie Phillips; Rep. Kim Williams; Rep. Paul Baumbach; Rep. Ed Osienski; Rep. Cyndie Romer; Senator Laura Sturgeon; Senator Russ Huxtable; Senator Kyra Hoffner; Senator Spiros Mantzavinos; Senator Jack Walsh; Senator Kyle Evans Gay; Senator Stephanie Hansen; and Senator Nicole Poore.
Upon her announcement, Nelson Hill with UFCW Local 27 said, “Working people across Delaware need a member of Congress who has a record of taking on big challenges and delivering for them -- and Sarah is exactly that leader. We are excited to join working families across the state to make Sarah McBride Delaware's next member of Congress.”
Organizations that announced their support of Senator McBride include:
End Citizens United / Let America Vote
Equality PAC
Human Rights Campaign
LPAC
Victory Fund
Next50
EMILYs List
Delaware Stonewall PAC
UFCW Local 27
Association of Flight Attendants
Reproductive Freedom for All
Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU)
ABOUT SARAH MCBRIDE
Sarah McBride represents roughly 50,000 Delawareans in the First State Senate District, which includes parts of Wilmington and Brandywine Hundred. Sarah grew up in Wilmington and has been advocating for her community for decades. She worked for former Governor Jack Markell, the late Attorney General Beau Biden, and served in the Obama White House. Most recently, she served as the national spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ equal rights organization.
When McBride was elected in November 2020, she became the first openly transgender state senator in American history. In just her first term, McBride passed the landmark Healthy Delaware Families Act, providing paid family and medical leave to workers throughout the First State and marking the largest expansion of Delaware's social safety net in decades. She also passed legislation expanding access to health care, requiring mental health and media literacy education in public schools, promoting green technologies, preventing lead poisoning in youth, and protecting workers and families.
McBride currently serves as chair of the Senate Health & Social Services Committee and is a member of the Senate’s Judiciary Committee, Education Committee, Banking, Business, Insurance, and Technology Committee, and Executive Committee.
Sarah married her late husband Andrew Cray in 2014 and is the proud aunt of seven. She is a graduate of Cab Calloway School of the Arts and American University. McBride has taught public policy at the University of Delaware and is the author of the 2018 memoir, “Tomorrow Will Be Different,” which includes a foreword from President Joe Biden.
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