It has been revealed that the Conservative Party of BC out-fundraised BC United/Liberal during the second quarter of 2024. During the period between April 1 to June 30, John Rustad's party pulled in $1,107,720.64 while Kevin Falcon's crew only received $619,950.83. While the Conservatives outpaced the party from which a growing number of its MLAs originated, their numbers were still far behind those of the NDP. The current government, led by Premier David Eby, raked in $2,268,002.80.According to Elections BC, the vast majority of the Conservatives' donors gave less than $250, with a total of 3,501 contributors raising $202,200.18. A further 960 donated greater than $250, bringing in the remaining $903,974.46. For BC United/Liberal, the ratio between those who contributed less than $250 and more than $250 was roughly two to one.Data has shown that Conservatives' fundraising efforts have been steadily improving since last year. In the first quarter of 2023, the party garnered a mere $25,861.40 in political contributions. That rose to $65,370.25 in the second quarter, before dipping slightly to $52,562.19 in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, however, they made up for that, with donations increasing by a factor of six to $299.820.20. The party started 2024 off strong, bringing in $383,954.16 in the first quarter.Meanwhile, BC United/Liberal saw their political contributions go from $630,434.12 in the first quarter of 2023 to a high of over $1.1 million in the fourth quarter. Since then, they have been on a downward trend, bringing in around $200,000 less in the second quarter of 2024 as they did in the first. The Conservatives' fundraising successes come as their support continues to grow. According to the latest poll released by Research Co., Rustad's party has seen a jump of 5 points over the past month. Of the 802 decided voters surveyed across the province between July 23 and 25, 38% said the Conservatives were their number one choice. The gap between them and the NDP, who sat at 41%, has continued to narrow.
