U.S. Senator Doug Jones’ (D-AL) reelection campaign has filed its financial disclosure covering February 13 – March 31, and the latest report reinforced that Jones is receiving an overwhelming majority of his funding from outside of Alabama.
Yellowhammer News, as in past quarters, analyzed the newly filed report on Wednesday.
Jones received a total of $1,667,874.67 and spent $828,628.47, for a burn rate of 49.68%. This left the junior senator with $8,262,066.98 on hand at the end of Quarter 1 (Q1).
Looking specifically at the itemized individual contributions Jones reported in the period, which totaled $1,108,172.26, Jones raised 71.16% from out-of-state ($788,547.90) compared to 28.84% ($319,624.36) from Alabamians.
Jones raised more in itemized individual contributions from residents of California, New York and Washington, D.C., combined ($370,942.03) than from his home state of Alabama.
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A couple of notable itemized contributions from individuals included famed Hollywood director and producer Steven Spielberg ($5,000 donated to Jones during the period) and Heather Podesta ($200 donated to Jones during the period).
Heather Podesta is a D.C. lobbyist and the ex-wife of Tony Podesta, who co-founded the Podesta Group in 1988 with his brother, John, who is best known for serving as President Bill Clinton’s chief of staff and President Barack Obama’s senior counselor. The Podesta Group folded in recent years after the organization and Tony Podesta came under federal investigation regarding potential noncompliance with the Foreign Agents Registration Act for their past work for a Ukrainian group tied to the pro-Russian former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. Charges were never brought.
In addition to individual itemized contributions, Jones also received a hefty sum, $100,977.06, from leadership PACs and joint fundraising committees during the period.
This included $5,000 from the Congressional Black Caucus, $5,000 from Purpose PAC (the leadership PAC of U.S. Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey), $5,000 from PAC For A Change (the hybrid PAC/super PAC affiliated with former U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer of California), $2,500 from Pineapple PAC (the leadership PAC of U.S. Senator Mazie Hirono of Hawaii) and $1,000 from Friends for Harry Reid (the former Democratic Senate leader from Nevada).
Q1 was the quarter in which Jones fundraised off of the impeachment trial of President Donald J. Trump. The president was eventually acquitted on both articles after Jones voted to convict on both.
It was also revealed in the same quarter that a D.C. group with ties to George Soros was supporting Jones’ reelection bid.
Jones will face the ultimate Republican nominee in November. A GOP primary runoff between former Auburn University head football coach Tommy Tuberville and former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions will be held on July 14.
Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
