And they're off!

South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg was the first 2020 Democrat out of the gate with his fourth quarter fundraising haul announcement after the quarter ended on Tuesday. He raised $24.7 million, beating out nearly every candidates' total from the last quarter, his campaign announced Wednesday.

Buttigieg's Q4 announcement homed in on his small-money donations, saying its average contribution this quarter was $33 and that 98 percent of its donations were less than $200. That focus is a clear rebuttal to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) after she went after Buttigieg's high-dollar fundraisers in December's Democratic debate.

Warren raised just a bit less than Buttigieg in the third quarter, with $24.6 million. She hinted at a less prosperous Q4 in an email last week where she told supporters she had only brought in $17 million. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) meanwhile had the best fundraising quarter of any 2020 candidate yet in Q3, but hasn't yet indicated how this quarter is shaping up.

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