Democrats have long touted the importance of raising small amounts of money from a large number of donors as a sign of political strength on the campaign trail and in Congress.

But recent campaign finance disclosures show some lawmakers — from both parties — raised next to no money from so-called small donors in the first three months of 2019 for their campaign accounts. The names of contributors giving less than $200 in the aggregate do not have to be included in reports to the Federal Election Commission, but the total received from all those “unitemized” contributions is disclosed.

[Small-dollar donors could hold the balance in 2020]

Democrats used small donors in the 2018 cycle to outraise their Republican counterparts, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. And the ability to get at least 65,000 different donors is being used this year as an entry test for the first televised Democratic presidential debates.

But some Democrats and Republicans who raised more than $100,000 during the first quarter got less than $400 of it from donors giving $200 or less.