Sen. Amy Klobuchar raised $11.4 million in the final three months of 2019, her strongest fundraising quarter since launching her presidential campaign.

The Minnesota Democrat posted strong debate performances throughout the fall, which helped boost her fundraising as well as her performance in polls. The fourth-quarter haul gives her the financial heft to try to turn that into a strong showing in neighboring Iowa, the first caucus state and the key to Klobuchar’s campaign strategy.


But Klobuchar still lags behind the top Democratic candidates in both polling and fundraising. Former Vice President Joe Biden, former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren have been bunched near the top of most recent polls of Iowa and New Hampshire, with Klobuchar lagging behind, nearer to the rest of the pack — though there has been sparse early-state polling in recent weeks, especially since the most recent Democratic debate on Dec. 19.