Out-of-state and small-dollar donors fuel Hawley’s post-Jan. 6 fundraising surge

Out-of-state money has flowed into Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley’s campaign fund in the weeks since he played a leading role in the effort to overturn the 2020 election.

Hawley’s campaign reported this week more than $3 million in fundraising for the first three months of the year, his strongest financial quarter since 2018 when he was running to unseat incumbent Democrat Claire McCaskill.

The total is all the more striking because he’s been abandoned by the corporate PACs that announced they would not give to lawmakers who supported overturning the election. Some, including Hallmark’s PAC, asked for refunds of past donations.

Hawley was the first senator to announce plans to object to President Joe Biden’s Electoral College Victory and was photographed raising his fist in solidarity with a crowd of former President Donald Trump’s supporters shortly before the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. The viral image made him one of the faces of a day that shocked the nation.

It’s prompted an ethics complaint from Democratic colleagues, the disavowal of his mentor and calls for his resignation.

But it’s also led to a surge of small-dollar donations from around the country.

Only two PACs gave to Hawley during the period. The Senate Conservatives Fund, which vocally defended him and other election objectors, contributed $10,000. And the Missouri Soybean Association’s PAC, which represents farmers in his home state, gave $2,000.

All other PAC funding was non-existent for the quarter, a big change for a Republican who once enjoyed the support of business groups around the state and nation.

Hawley’s campaign announced his fundraising totals earlier this week. But the report filed Thursday with the Federal Election Commission shows where the money is originating.

The majority of Hawley’s itemized contributions — donations that exceed $200 and require the campaign to disclose the name and address of the donor— came from outside of Missouri. Roughly 45% are from Missouri. California represented roughly 7% of his itemized cash, while Florida and Texas both accounted for about 6%.

Hawley’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment Thursday. Hawley and McCaskill both received significant portions of their fundraising from out of state in 2018, but in a non-election year it demonstrates Hawley’s growing status as a national figure in the GOP.

But more than half of his contributions, $1.7 million, were unitemized, meaning they were less than $200 apiece and don’t fall under the same disclosure rules.

The haul hints at a potential presidential campaign in the future.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders was able to fund two unsuccessful but competitive presidential runs on the strength of small dollar donations.

Hawley won’t be on the ballot until 2024, but his quarterly total is more than 10 times that of Kansas Republican Sen. Jerry Moran, who stands for re-election next year. Moran raised roughly $260,000 during the same period Hawley raised $3 million.

But Hawley also spent $1.3 million during the quarter, much of it going toward printing, rental of fundraising lists and other costs related to bringing in more money. He ended the period with $3.1 million cash on hand.

Hawley has leaned into the furor over his Electoral College objection. He sent multiple fundraising pleas on Jan. 6, including while the riot was taking place. In the weeks since, he has sent a string of pitches tied to the backlash and Trump’s impeachment.

In February, Hawley sent prospective donors in Florida a six-page letter that began by responding to Biden’s criticism that he and Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz had engaged in the “big lie” about the election.

“President Biden and his corporatist, globalist allies are attacking me because they are scared of me and fear the TRUTHS I am exposing,” Hawley’s letter said.

Biden had invoked the name of Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels in talking about the two senators and the “big lie.” In recent weeks, Hawley has also used the phrase “Big Lie” to describe Biden’s comments about Georgia’s new election law.

Asked Tuesday about his decision to capitalize on the election challenge in his fundraising, Hawley instead offered a rebuke of Biden.

“The fact that the president of the United States called United States senators Nazis is absolutely despicable and reprehensible. He has still not acknowledged he was wrong for that. It was utterly disgusting,” Hawley said.

“And you want to know what I think those numbers reflect? In part, it’s the fact that people feel they are talked down to, they are condescended to and they are called Nazis by the president of the United States,” he added.

Hawley’s campaign finance report also shows that the senator refunded his own campaign for $424 in food and travel costs.

The New York Post reported in February that Hawley’s spending on junk food during a 2020 trip to Florida potentially violated campaign finance rules. The spending on doughnuts and other items was repaid Jan. 31, according to his report.

McClatchy’s Ben Wieder and The Star’s Eric Adler contributed to this report.