“In short, this is a race we can win — if we have the resources we need to steadily grow our campaign and show Democratic voters that Cory is the right candidate for this moral moment in our country’s history,” campaign manager Addisu Demissie wrote in a campaign memo Tuesday morning.

“We’re not seeking to manufacture a fleeting breakout moment months away from the first contests,” he continued. “Our strategy since day one of this campaign has been about building — brick-by-brick — a campaign to grow steadily through the long primary season, and win when voting begins.”

Demissie said the campaign will hire 40 new staffers across the early states and its Newark headquarters over the next six weeks, open new field offices this month, launch a ballot access program and invest six figures into growing its email list.

Booker’s next goal is to kick off the fourth quarter of 2019 by raising $3 million in October. The campaign projects that it will need $2.5 million to cover the month’s expenses, and the additional $500,000 will allow it to make investments in November and December for get-out-the-vote programs and advertising.

“The good news: while ambitious, we know $3 million in a month is an attainable goal — because we just raised over $3.1 million in September,” Demissie said. “Most importantly, at this point, it is the real amount we think we need to sustain, grow, and remain competitive in this primary contest.”

On a conference call with reporters later Tuesday, Demissie did not share the campaign's cash on hand total or the size of its average donation last quarter. But he noted more than half of Booker's donors in the last 10 days were new to the campaign.

The campaign will continue to be transparent with periodic updates on its fundraising progress, Demissie said. But Booker won’t threaten to end his campaign if it comes up short of its goal this month.

“It was never about survival. It was about growth,” Demissie said of the $1.7 million fundraising push. “Had we not had this fundraising surge at the end of the quarter, we would’ve had enough money to survive but not to grow, and growth is what we needed to win. Now we have the funds we need to grow. We need more.”