Jagmeet Singh tops NDP leadership fundraising in 2nd quarter of 2017

Ontario member of the legislature Jagmeet Singh led the field of NDP leadership candidates in the second quarter of 2017, according to the latest quarterly fundraising report published by Elections Canada.

Singh raised $356,784 from 1,681 individual contributions, despite entering the race in mid-May, halfway through the reporting period that stretched from April 1 to June 30, 2017. That represents 60 per cent of all money raised by the four candidates for the NDP leadership in the quarter.

Singh was followed by Ontario MP Charlie Angus, who raised $123,577 from 1,285 individual contributions. Manitoba MP Niki Ashton raised $70,156 from 1,006 contributors — though she announced that her campaign had already raised $100,000 in July — while Quebec MP Guy Caron raised just $46,970 from 568 contributions.

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Angus was the fundraising leader in the first quarter of 2017, before Singh entered the race, bringing in $110,765. Ashton and Caron raised $65,521 and $57,235 respectively at that time, including the $25,000 they each donated to their own campaigns.

Peter Julian, who withdrew from the NDP leadership race in July, raised just $28,673 in the second quarter, after raising $19,143 in the first quarter. Julian pointed to his poor fundraising as one of the reasons for his withdrawal from the contest.

Pat Stogran, who entered the race in April before withdrawing in early June, raised $14,966. 

The NDP will choose its next leader in October.

Conservatives lead in party fundraising

The Conservatives raised $4,073,665 from 32,427 contributions in the second quarter of 2017. While that was down from the party's haul in the first quarter of the year, it doesn't include the $1.9 million that was also raised by the leadership contestants. Combined, the Conservative take in the second quarter totaled $6 million.

With or without the leadership dollars, that puts the Conservatives ahead of the Liberals for the second consecutive quarter. The Liberals raised $3,023,955 from 30,149 contributions. That is an increase from the first quarter of 2017, but still below the party's average quarterly fundraising in 2016.

The New Democratic Party raised $825,985 in the second quarter from 12,448 contributions, in addition to the $642,000 raised by leadership contestants. The funds raised solely by the party were the worst since the second quarter of 2010, but with the leadership fundraising added in, the quarter was the second best for the party since the 2015 federal election.

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The Bloc Québécois took in $91,197 in donations from 1,125 contributions in the quarter — its lowest numbers since the first quarter of 2015.

The Green Party raised $486,998 from 7,047 individual contributions, up slightly from its first quarter haul. But the party is still on track for its worst fundraising year since 2013.