Julian Castro Issues Challenge to Supporters

The Democratic field will be reduced by one candidate at the end of the month—unless his supporters reach for their wallets. Julian Castro emailed supporters to say that he's out of the 2020 race if he doesn't raise $800,000 in 10 days, reports BuzzFeed. As the outlet and Politico point out, Cory Booker resorted to the same tactic last month, though he set a higher goal of $1.7 million and surpassed it. Castro's campaign says that without the money, he won't be able to qualify for the November debate because he won't be able buy ads and reach the minimum 3% threshold of support in polls.

“The truth is, for our campaign, these debates have offered our only guaranteed opportunity to share my vision with the American people,” Castro writes in the email. “If I can’t make the next debate stage, we cannot sustain a campaign that can make it to Iowa in February.” Castro raised $3.5 million last quarter, his best number yet, but the campaign has less than $700,000 on hand. BuzzFeed notes that even lower-tier candidates such as Michael Bennet and Steve Bullock have more money. "All the progress we’ve made is in serious jeopardy," writes Castro. (More Julian Castro 2020 stories.)