Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s upset win over Rep. Joe Crowley in New York’s 14th District primary came from mostly small-donor support peppered with large donations from non-district donors, a successful recipe for other Democrats Tuesday.

On the campaign trail, Ocasio-Cortez characterized Crowley as a “corporate Democrat” who relied less on local donors than corporate money in contrast to her campaign’s reliance “on small donors, most of them from in and around the district,” The Washington Post reported.

Over two-thirds of her campaign’s $300,709 fundraising came from small donors, or those who contributed $200 or less. It’s unclear how much came from inside the district since candidates are not required to itemize small donations on fundraising disclosures.

About 88 percent of her large donations — or those that exceeded $200 and were itemized with donor information — came from non-constituents, however. Only $10,152 originated from in-district donors; $76,552 came elsewhere.

The 28-year-old activist in line to become the youngest woman ever elected to Congress wasn’t the only Democrat to win Tuesday with help from out-of-district donors.

About three-fourths of the large contributions to Democratic primary winners in Colorado, Maryland, New York, Oklahoma and Utah Tuesday were donated from outside their districts; 30 percent came from outside their states.

In Colorado, Democrat Jason Crow raised $1.6 million en route to winning the primary in the state’s Sixth District, a Republican seat held by Rep. Mike Coffman. Ninety-four percent of Crow’s large donations were from outside the district and about one-third came from outside the state.

In New York, Democrat Antonio Delgado raised about $1.4 million from donors outside his 19th District — the most money raised by a candidate from outside their congressional district among Tuesday’s Democratic primary winners.

Delgado will face Republican incumbent Rep. John Faso in a projected toss-up race in November.

Longshot Democratic candidates also benefited from donors outside their congressional districts ahead of Tuesday’s primaries.

In Utah’s Fourth District, Democrat Ben McAdams received $12,483 from constituent donors and roughly $557,000 from outside the district. The percentage of out-of-district donations — 98 percent — ranked first among winning Democrats this week. Seventy-nine percent has come from Utah donors, however.*

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McAdams will face Republican incumbent Rep. Mia Love in a congressional district that Trump won by 7 percentage points in 2016. Ninety-seven percent of Love’s donations has come from outside her district; 83 percent has come from outside her state.*

Crowley’s defeat to Ocasio-Cortez dominated the post-primary headlines, but another New York Democrat incumbent Tuesday came close to losing to a political newcomer who was backed by non-district funding.

In New York’s Ninth District, community organizer Adem Bunkeddeko nearly toppled Democratic incumbent Rep. Yvette Clarke, a six-term member of Congress.

Bunkeddeko raised 97 percent of his large donations from outside the central Brooklyn congressional district. Clarke, who outraised Bunkeddeko by a margin of 3-to-1, received 84 percent of her itemized contributions from non-district donors.

None of Tuesday’s Senate primaries held much consequence. But out-of-state money has also spilled into competitive Senate races during the primaries in support of Democrats hoping to protect their seats and challengers seeking to oust Republicans.

In Nevada, Democrat Jacky Rosen won the party’s Senate primary and will face Republican Dean Heller, one of the most vulnerable Senate Republicans. Rosen raised $5.1 million of her itemized donations — or 86 percent — from non-Nevadans and less than $825,000 from in-state donors. Heller’s raised 59 percent from outside Nevada.

Senate Democrats facing tough reelection bids in states that Trump carried in 2016 have also benefited from non-constituent donors.

Democrats Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.) and Joe Manchin (W.Va.) rank first and second among Democratic incumbents with the highest percentage of out-of-state money raised during this cycle. (Rosen ranks third).

Heitkamp, facing a toss-up reelection in November, has raised $5.7 million — or 92 percent — of her $6.2 million from outside the state. Manchin has collected 87 percent of his $2.7 million from donors outside the Mountain State.

*This story was updated to compare in-state and in-district donations to Rep. Mia Love (R-Utah) and Democratic challenger Ben McAdams.



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