The power of incumbency pays off, it seems.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has jumped to an early fundraising lead in the city’s mayoral race, raising some five times what her main challenger, Councilmember Robert White (D-At Large), has brought in. A third candidate, Councilmember Trayon White (D-Ward 8), was granted an extension on filing the Dec. 10 report.

According to a campaign finance report submitted over the weekend, Bowser has raised $517,703 since announcing her bid for a third term in early November. Robert White raised a more modest $29,792 over the same time period, adding to the $88,621 he took in during the month of October, when he announced his own campaign.

Bowser’s cash haul wasn’t unexpected; the two-term mayor has always been a prodigious fundraiser, pulling in more than $2.5 million for her 2018 re-election campaign. But this campaign is different: Bowser has opted to participate in the city’s new public financing program, which offers a match on small-dollar contributions from D.C. residents but also imposes stricter contribution limits on what people can give. While in the past Bowser could have taken in $2,000 from individual givers or businesses, she’s now limited to $200 per contributor — and businesses cannot give money.

Still, Bowser reported raising $382,596 of her half-million haul directly from more than 2,100 D.C. residents. (Contributors included more than 100 D.C. government employees, as well as owners of large businesses, developers, lawyers, and lobbyists.) With the public financing program’s 5-to-1 match, she’s expected to receive more than $1.9 million in public funds for her campaign. When coupled with the $134,907 from non-residents, Bowser could have $2.5 million in her campaign war chest in the coming weeks.

Robert White has already taken in more than $461,000 in public funds through the program, divided between an $80,000 base payment to kickstart his campaign and $381,185 to match what 1,400 D.C. residents gave his campaign through the end of October. He will also receiving matching funds for what he raised during the month of November. (White’s campaign says the average contribution from D.C. residents came in at $60; Bowser’s average contribution is just above $180.)

Trayon White’s campaign team did not immediately respond to a request for comment about his fundraising.

Under the public financing program, the most any mayoral candidate will receive in public funding for their campaign is $3.7 million to cover both the primary and general elections.

Of course, money alone isn’t a guarantee that Bowser will prevail in the June Democratic primary. Her political mentor and former mayor Adrian Fenty lost his own re-election bid in 2010 after raising almost $5 million. In 2018, Councilmember Elissa Silverman (I-At Large) survived a challenge from better-funded Bowser ally Dionne Bussey-Reeder, while in 2020 Councilmember Christina Henderson (I-At Large) won her seat despite being outraised in a crowded field.

“What matters most is how the money is spent,” says Matt Santoro, a political operative who worked in D.C. politics on a number of campaigns in the past, including for former councilmember and Bowser ally Brandon Todd and for White during his 2016 campaign. “What happens when you have that much money? You usually start spending it on stuff that you don’t need that can actually suppress volunteerism, as your followers start confusing sporting swag for actually helping the campaign.”

Robert White has recently sharpened his attacks on Bowser, saying at a forum last week that she “doesn’t care about vulnerable people.” Bowser hasn’t directly addressed White’s candidacy, and it’s unclear when their paths will first cross. But the public financing program they are both participating in requires that they square off in at least one debate hosted by the D.C. Office of Campaign Finance.

“We’re feeling really good about our fundraising,” Robert White’s campaign said in an email. “We’re incredibly grateful for the D.C. residents who have donated just $5 or $10 dollars — whatever they can give. We know the mayor has connections to the most wealthy residents in our city so we weren’t surprised that she was able to bring in a lot of money. We’re not going to have an average donation of over $150 but we do have nearly the same number of individual donors as the mayor. Our campaign is truly grassroots and reflective of the voices of people who can’t give $200 but want new leadership that listens to them.”

In other fundraising reports, Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie (D-Ward 5) has so far raised more than $124,000 for his campaign to be attorney general; his campaign says that once public financing is factored in, he should have more than $600,000 at his disposal. Attorney Bruce Spiva, who is also in the race for attorney general, reported raising $122,000, with $102,000 of it coming by way of a personal loan to his campaign.

In the race for D.C. Council Chair, current Chairman Phil Mendelson — the only incumbent not to take public financing — has raised $364,000, while challenger Erin Palmer raised just shy of $30,000 through October and took in $133,000 in public funds.

The Democratic primary is on June 21, 2022.

Previously:

DCision 2022: Here’s Your Guide To The People Running For Office In D.C. (So Far)