With just weeks left until the presidential election, Kentucky voters are still overwhelmingly donating to Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
Clinton’s campaign received more than 11 times the number of individual contributions in September than Republican Donald Trump garnered, according to new data from the Federal Election Commission.
Kentucky residents gave Clinton more than $224,787 last month, nearly double the $123,707 pulled in by Trump. The two reported nearly identical fundraising hauls -- roughly $172,000 -- in August, the previous month.
Clinton has out-raised Trump in Kentucky in all but two of the last 12 months. Trump’s campaign coffers ballooned in July in a summertime fundraising spike, thanks to a big-ticket fundraiser in Lexington.
Clinton’s recent campaign haul can again be attributed largely to modest donations of $200 or less. Some 3,000 contributions -- about 93 percent of her monthly total -- fell into this category. On the other side, Trump reported about 68 such contributions.
These campaign tallies do not include dollars sent to political action committees or groups that work to support a platform or candidate.
Kentucky has reliably voted red in recent presidential races, and that trend is likely to continue. Trump has a 98 percent likelihood of taking the state, according to FiveThirtyEight’s election forecast.
Trump’s fundraising started slow in Kentucky. He garnered minimal campaign hauls throughout the primary season, while Clinton’s team raked in tens of thousands of dollars.
Individuals are allowed to donate up to $2,700 per election, or $5,400 total for a primary and a general election.
The latest campaign finance data also provide a breakdown of Kentucky’s giving to candidates by party since the presidential race began. Through September, residents have sent about $2.12 million to Republican candidates. More than $1.94 million went to Democratic candidates for president.
The state’s registered voting bloc consists of 1.6 million Democrats and 1.3 million Republicans.
One oddity in the Kentucky data: Rand Paul’s dormant presidential campaign pulled in $24,638 last month. Paul is currently running for U.S. Senate against Democrat Jim Gray of Lexington.
Managing Editor Brendan McCarthy can be reached at bmccarthy@kycir.orgor (502) 814.6541 .
