The Ben Carson political phenomenon continues to win new supporters, with the National Draft Ben Carson for President Committee recording its 100,000th unique donation, a sign of the depth of grassroots support for the Obamacare critic in the upcoming 2016 presidential race.

The committee told Secrets that the 100,000th donation came just after the group celebrated a record breaking $3.3 million raised in the second quarter of 2014. It also arrived just shy of the one-year anniversary of the committee’s founding, a validation of its effort to talk the neurosurgeon into running for president.

“To rally 100,000 donors in less than a year, more than two years before the presidential election, is simply an astonishing achievement,” said John Philip Sousa IV, national chairman of the committee. “The American people are clamoring loudly for Dr. Carson to enter the race, and we will continue to do everything we can to make that happen,” he added in a statement.

“In addition to 100,000 unique donors supporting this work, the committee is engaged with more than 17,000 volunteers around the nation who are working to raise awareness of Dr. Carson’s unique qualifications and convince him to enter the race,” added said Vernon Robinson, the committee’s campaign director.

For comparison, the group’s high second quarter take beat the pro- Hillary Clinton committee, "Ready For Hillary," which also hit a quarterly record with $2.5 million. The Carson group, which has no contact with him, has raised over $8 million since August 2013.

The group also claims that more than 300,000 people have signed petitions encouraging Carson to run.

Carson hasn't indicated what his presidential plans are, but his hits on Obamacare and populist speech themes, especially those against political correctness, have given him a wide fan base.

Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner's "Washington Secrets" columnist, can be contacted at pbedard@washingtonexaminer.com.