Conservative leadership candidate Pierre Poilievre received over $4 million in campaign donations in the second quarter of 2022, more than the rest of the field combined.."If you didn’t think Pierre Poilievre was on track for a first ballot victory on September 10, the latest fundraising figures might just change your mind. Because he raised a lot of money," said Éric Grenier of The Writ, who compiled the fundraising data..Poilievre received a total of $4,042,717 in the second quarter of 2022, followed by Jean Charest at $1,376,492, Leslyn Lewis at $709,061, Patrick Brown at $541,707, Roman Baber at $504,650, and Scott Aitchison at 363,922..Combined with the fundraising in the first quarter of 2022, Poilievre has raised $4.6 million, followed by Charest at $1.9 million, Lewis at $935,000, Brown at $657,000, Baber at $557,000, and Aitchison at $455,000..Poilievre was also far ahead of the pack in the number of individual donors, at a whopping 36,804. Lewis' campaign received donations from 5,523 people, Charest received 4,191, Baber received 4,171, Brown received 1,358, and Aitchison received 1,081. .Grenier said Poilievre is averaging about $110 per donation, while Charest averages $328 per donation. He said Lewis and Baber have "similarly small" average donations, while Aitchison and Brown had large average donations similar to Charest..Not only is Poilievre far ahead of the other candidates in terms of donations, but Grenier said he is also outpacing past leadership contestants. Peter MacKay raised nearly $4.1 million during the entire leadership race in 2020, while Leader Erin O'Toole raised just $3.5 million..In 2017, Maxime Bernier raised a total of $2.5 million, while winner Andrew Scheer didn't even collect $1 million..Grenier said Poilievre's $4 million is an "unprecedentedly large amount of money" for a candidate to raise in a single quarter. "His nearly 37,000 contributions would be a good number for the entire Liberal Party outside of an election and it is a level the New Democrats haven’t reached since 2015," he said..In terms of the geographic distribution of donations, Grenier said Poilievre's advantage in Western Canada was "crushing.".The MP for Carleton, Ontario received 79% of all fundraising in Alberta, 77% in Saskatchewan, 72% in British Columbia, and 65% in Manitoba. But Grenier noted that while the region provided 54% of Poilievre's donations, it will only be worth 31% of the leadership race's votes. .The province of Ontario was more competitive, with Poilievre receiving just 41% of all dollars donated to candidates. Brown and Charest did better inside Toronto, while Poilievre did better outside the city..Charest took the lead in Quebec, perhaps unsurprisingly, with the former premier of the province taking in 65% of all donations to Poilievre's 30%. And in Atlantic Canada, Charest led in Nova Scotia, while Poilievre was ahead in Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island..Grenier said because Poilievre is less dominant in Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada, the leadership race's point system could cost him a victory on the first ballot. "Charest is likely to win Quebec and be very competitive in Atlantic Canada, and perhaps Ontario as well if he gets a good chunk of the Brown vote to actually cast a ballot," he said..But Grenier said barring a "big surprise," it's difficult to see Poilievre failing to obtain close to 50% on the first ballot.."With his strong fundraising data now in the system, the Conservative Leadership Index puts Poilievre in first ballot victory territory," he said.
