Former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld (Matthew J. Lee/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, the only prominent Republican currently challenging President Donald Trump for the party’s nomination in 2020, won’t beat the president when it comes to fundraising.

Weld raised nearly $700,000 during the second quarter of 2019, 64 percent of which came from large individual donors giving more than $200. He also lent his campaign $180,800. The plurality of itemized contributions, $142,600, came from Massachusetts.

The campaign spent $575,000 during the quarter, the majority of which went to consulting. It also spent $16,500 to hire a Salem, N.H.-based media group to produce a commercial.

Weld has focused his campaign around the Granite State on the basis that its geographic proximity to Massachusetts and primary rules — independents are allowed to vote in the Republican primary — might allow him to pull off an upset.

Trump was the surprise winner of the New Hampshire primary in 2016, coming away with 35 percent of the popular vote. He then lost the state to Hillary Clinton during the general election by fewer than 3,000 votes.

While the primary is still eight months away, Weld has a lot of ground to make up. A Monmouth University poll in May found that 55 percent of Republican voters in New Hampshire preferred to see the incumbent president go unchallenged in the state’s primary, while 34 percent hoped he would face competition. In a head-to-head matchup with Weld, however, 72 percent of Republican voters said they preferred Trump.

Help us keep government accountable by making a donation today.

New Hampshire is one of the states Trump lost in 2016 that his campaign has eyed as a target to flip in 2020. Trump reported raising $105 million in the 2nd quarter, including $54 million for his campaign and $51 million for the Republican National Committee.

Weld was elected governor of Massachusetts in 1990 and re-elected in 1994. He then challenged incumbent Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) in 1996 but came up short. Weld’s campaign that year was the only political campaign that former special counsel Robert Mueller ever gave to.

A year later, Weld was nominated ambassador to Mexico and resigned his governorship, but his nomination ultimately stalled in the Senate.

The former Massachusetts governor then worked as a lawyer in private practice and ran for governor of New York in 2006, but attorney John Faso ultimately won the Republican party’s nomination.

Most recently, Weld was Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson’s vice presidential pick in 2016. The ticket garnered 4.5 million votes, roughly 3 percent of the popular vote.



For permission to reprint for commercial uses, such as textbooks, contact the Center: Feel free to distribute or cite this material, but please credit the Center for Responsive Politics.For permission to reprint for commercial uses, such as textbooks, contact the Center: [email protected]





Support Accountability Journalism At OpenSecrets.org we offer in-depth, money-in-politics stories in the public interest. Whether you’re reading about 2020 presidential fundraising, conflicts of interest or “dark money” influence, we produce this content with a small, but dedicated team. Every donation we receive from users like you goes directly into promoting high-quality data analysis and investigative journalism that you can trust.Please support our work and keep this resource free. Thank you. Support OpenSecrets ➜