http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2015/07/15/trump-carson-and-santorum-burn-through-campaign-cash-fastest/The so-called burn rate -- comparing money raised with money spent -- showed Trump in the lead, spending 74 percent of the campaign funds he has raised so far in his official campaign account. The New York real estate and entertainment magnate is running ahead of other candidates in recent polls.
Carson, the Baltimore neurosurgeon, burned through 64 percent of the money he has raised to date, putting him close to Rick Santorum, who had a 62 percent burn rate, according to numbers filed
Wednesday with the Federal Election Commission.
Trump spent heavily on travel and staff, including more than $506,486 on private jet services. In total, Trump's campaign reported spending about $1.5 million dollars as of June 30 from his mostly self-funded campaign.
Typically candidates hold on to the funds they raise early in a campaign. But this year there is enormous pressure on candidates to maintain visibility and credibility in an unusually crowded GOP field.
Despite Trump's recent rise in polls, burn rate is not necessarily an indication of success. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who also ranks at the top of recent polls, reported a burn rate of 27 percent.
The Bush campaign spent slightly more than $3 million in the two weeks after Bush announced his campaign in mid-June, primarily on operational fees, including around $400,000 on legal consulting fees. Expenditure reports showed large payments went to political consultants, including more than $350,000 to FP1 Strategies, the firm founded by Bush campaign manager Danny Diaz. Senior adviser Sally Bradshaw was paid $25,550, including $13,300 for her work while Bush was “testing the waters.”
Bush, who touted support for Uber in face of warnings from Hillary Clinton about economic questions raised by the "sharing economy," spent $1,396 on Uber rides.
Hillary Clinton's filing revealed a burn rate of 39 percent compared with 20 percent for her nearest challenger, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Clinton, who raised the largest sums of any official campaign, was quick to start spending money. Her committee raced through nearly $19 million in less than three months, even before beginning expensive TV buys. Millions went to hire hundreds of staffers, a sign of how rapidly it has sought to ramp up a national infrastructure.
A quick review of spending by Carson and Santorum showed that the three were spending a lot on fundraising efforts.
This spending appears to have paid off in one way way for Carson, who reported a large number of small donors. All told, Carson received $5.7 million from donors contributing less than $250 each. His high proportion of small donors was exceeded only by by Sanders, whose small-donation haul topped $10.4 million, about 68 percent of his entire campaign receipts. Overall, Sanders reports show a burn rate of 20 percent.
Another GOP candidate, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, collected a little more than $2 million this cycle, and spent $1.1 million, giving him a burn rate of 56 percent.
Huckabee’s spending for his 2016 run so far includes consulting fees and salaries for a lot of familiar names from his 2008 bid. Other than the campaign’s American Express bills, Huckabee paid the Wickers firm, where his son-in-law Bryan Sanders is a partner, the biggest single check: $55,586 for media consultant services.
Firm CEO Bob Wickers is Huckabee’s political and media consultant. Huckabee’s daughter, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, is managing her father’s campaign this time around. She advised Tom Cotton in his winning Senate campaign last year and managed John Boozman’s 2010 Senate bid against incumbent Blanche Lincoln.
Another sizable payment went to the Political Law Group, Doug Chalmer’s political law firm in Georgia, which received $52,773. Next came Unisource Direct, a Wisconsin firm, which collected $39, 459 for direct mail services. The campaign also wrote checks totaling $20,107 to J. Hogan Gidley and $18,524 to Alice Tadlock, both of whom worked on Huckabee’s 2008 campaign and are leaders in Huckabee’s 2016 communications strategy. Gidley also directed HUCK PAC, Huckabee’s political action committee.
Huckabee's close rival for support from Christian conservatives, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, was behind Huckabee in his rate of spending with a burn rate of 54 percent.
Rubio, who filed late in the evening Wednesday, showed a burn rate of 35 percent and a hefty total of $9.9 million cash on hand.