Influential Sen. Elizabeth Warren shows fundraising skill

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. (center), attends a small business talk last week in Lawrence, Mass. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. (center), attends a small business talk last week in Lawrence, Mass. Photo: Elise Amendola, Associated Press Photo: Elise Amendola, Associated Press Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Influential Sen. Elizabeth Warren shows fundraising skill 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

BOSTON — At the core of Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s appeal is a critique of an economic system she says is rigged against the little guy.

Helping fuel that message is a voracious fundraising machine that has turned the Massachusetts Democrat into a powerhouse in her party as she looks ahead to a 2018 re-election campaign and what supporters hope is a 2020 presidential bid.

Warren started 2017 with $4.8 million in her campaign account, the biggest piggy bank of any Senate Democrat facing voters next year, according to an Associated Press review of campaign finance records.

That’s also $1 million more than any Democratic member of the Senate except for leader Chuck Schumer of New York, with $10.7 million. Schumer won re-election last year.

Key to Warren’s fundraising muscle is a wide base of supporters. She raked in donations from every state in the past two years. Almost all her contributions came from individual supporters, with just $34,000 from political action committees and other groups.

Even in states where President Trump beat Democrat Hillary Clinton by double-digit margins, Warren found pockets of support. In Kentucky, the former Harvard University law professor pulled in $5,200. In Alabama, she collected $3,200. And in Tennessee, she raised $9,600 — all states where the vote exceeded 60 percent for Trump.

Warren also raised about $1.2 million for her PAC for a Level Playing Field during the past two years. She donated $390,000 of that to Democratic candidates and committees.

Warren’s success at cultivating small donors will be crucial to the Democratic Party’s White House hopes in 2020 whether she runs or not, according to Peter Ubertaccio, director of the Martin Institute for Law & Society at Stonehill College.

“Her people have really figured out the secret sauce,” Ubertaccio said. “Anyone who wants to be the Democratic nominee in 2020 is going to have to spend a lot of time cultivating Elizabeth Warren’s supporters and donors, and ultimately her.”

Steve LeBlanc is an Associated Press writer.