--- title: These Democrats’ Fundraising Hauls Make Them Ones To Watch description: Sen. Cory Booker and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are among the Democrats with big fundraising hauls canonical: https://time.com/7278437/cory-booker-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-fundraising/ author: Philip Elliott article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-04-17T11:00:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-11T00:17:04.875Z article:section: Politics og:title: These Democrats’ Fundraising Hauls Make Them Ones To Watch og:description: Sen. Cory Booker and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are among the Democrats with big fundraising hauls og:url: https://time.com/7278437/cory-booker-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-fundraising/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9f1b98950218d1e7/6998c5e207a30d92fc77ced9/cory-booker-alexandria-ocasio-cortez.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2400 og:image:height: 1350 og:image:alt: cory-booker-alexandria ocasio-cortez og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: These Democrats’ Fundraising Hauls Make Them Ones To Watch twitter:description: Sen. Cory Booker and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are among the Democrats with big fundraising hauls twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9f1b98950218d1e7/6998c5e207a30d92fc77ced9/cory-booker-alexandria-ocasio-cortez.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # These Democrats’ Fundraising Hauls Make Them Players To Watch > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Apr 17, 2025 11:00 AM UTC  Sen. Cory Booker; Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Sen. Cory Booker; Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Demetrius Freeman—The Washington Post/Getty Images; Graeme Sloan—The Washington Post/Getty Images  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Apr 17, 2025 11:00 AM UTC _This article is part of The D.C. Brief, TIME’s politics newsletter. Sign up_ [_here_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/signup?nln=dc-brief&source=dc%5Fonsite) _to get stories like this sent to your inbox._ An eternity stretches between now and any real moves in the Democratic Party’s next presidential nominating contest. But the early jockeying has started drawing donors’ imaginations, and so far, two charismatic leaders from the next generation of Democrats have emerged as figures to watch. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, whose recent marathon floor [speech](https://time.com/7273556/cory-booker-filibuster-speech-takeaways/?jw%5Fstart=) was hailed by peers and party activists alike as a turning point in the Democrats’ fight against President Donald Trump, has raked in $16 million since his 2020 re-election, putting him second only to Senator Jon Ossoff among Democrats running for re-election this cycle. While Booker’s haul is only a little more than half of Ossoff’s, the Georgian is Republicans’ top target for 2026 Senate races, while Booker’s seat is considered a safe one. Booker’s hefty fundraising tally came before he staged a record-breaking, 25-hour speech on the Senate floor that could be viewed as a less-than-subtle starting gun for a 2028 campaign. The spectacle started just hours before the fundraising quarter closed, so Booker’s $1 million start to the year is missing from the$12.4 million he hason hand heading into what is anticipated to be an easy re-election bid next year. **Read More:** [_Cory Booker Reminds Democrats What Fighting Back Looks Like._](https://time.com/7273556/cory-booker-filibuster-speech-takeaways/?jw%5Fstart=) Another Democratic fundraising standout who could come into play for higher office was Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The 35-year-old New Yorker, whose district includes parts of the Bronx and Queens, has collected $9.6 million through the end of March, according to financial reports filed Tuesday. Among House candidates, Ocasio-Cortez [ranks](https://www.fec.gov/?election%5Fyear=2026) [behind](https://time.com/7273189/special-election-wisconsin-florida-2025/) only Gay Valimont, a gun-safety advocate who earlier this month fell short in her bid for a Florida House seat vacated by Republican Matt Gaetz. Ocasio-Cortez has been touring the country with Sen. Bernie Sanders, drawing enormous crowds and huge numbers of low-dollar donors as she cements her status as a progressive star. It’s possible that both Booker andOcasio-Cortez will ultimately take a pass on 2028\. Booker’s 2020 bid for the presidential nomination failed to gain traction, and he dropped out before the first votes were even cast. Ocasio-Cortez, meanwhile, just cleared the age-minimum bar for qualifying for President, and many in New York are waiting to see if she chases that path or if she runs for the Senate seat currently held by Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is up for potential re-election in 2028. **Read More:** [_Inside Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Unlikely Rise._](https://time.com/5555437/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-profile/) But a party trying to figure out its identity amid a second Trump era will surely see a crowded field of hopefuls. The list could include the likes of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, among many others. Despite that group, it’s worth watching Booker's and AOC's coffers. A dollar raised for the House or Senate can become instant seed money for a White House run, whereas money raised for state-office campaigns is a trickier conversion. Money is a big part of any ambitious politician’s decision about their political future. Booker’s [struggles](https://www.politico.com/story/2019/09/21/booker-campaign-memo-fundraising-2020-1507052) with fundraising in his first bid for the White House helped [usher](https://time.com/5763847/cory-booker-drops-out-presidential-race/) him out of the race. Ocasio-Cortez, on the other hand, began her career by sparking a small-dollar revolution that [toppled](https://time.com/5322905/joe-crowley-alexandria-ocasio-cortez/) a longtime incumbent who was being groomed to maybe take over House Democrats’ operations. If the pair keeps this up—and spreads some of that cash around to help on-the-margin incumbents or rising insurgents—they just might be the pace-setters for the Democrats heading forward. _Make sense of what matters in Washington._ [_Sign up for the D.C. Brief newsletter_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/signup?nln=dc-brief&source=dc%5Fonsite)_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7278437/cory-booker-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-fundraising/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7278437/cory-booker-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-fundraising/"},"headline":"These Democrats’ Fundraising Hauls Make Them Players To Watch","datePublished":"2025-04-17T11:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-11T00:17:04.875Z","description":"Sen. Cory Booker and Rep. 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