Espy benefits from Democrat fundraising via ActBlue following Justice Ginsburg’s death

The Mike Espy for Senate campaign announced Tuesday that they have already raised $1 million “as a result of galvanized support following the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.”

The campaign says in a statement, “Since Friday, September 18, Mike Espy has raised five times more than Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith did during the entire second quarter. Last quarter, Espy for Senate outraised Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith three-to-one.”

The Espy campaign says the donations come from over 23,000 first-time donors to the campaign with an average donation of $23.

In truth, Democrats across the country are fundraising following the death of Justice Ginsburg. Newsweek is reporting that Democratic fundraising site ActBlue, the fundraising tool Espy’s campaign benefits from for his election in Mississippi, received $100 million in small-dollar donations since Ginsburg’s death.

As the Newsweek states, “ActBlue, technically classified as a nonprofit political action committee, behaves like a digital hub for donations that support Democratic candidates, committees and other organizations.”

Small-dollar donors have now given $100 million on ActBlue since 8 p.m. ET Friday, investing in candidates up and down the ballot and orgs on the front lines of the impending judicial confirmation fight. The grassroots is ready to fight to honor Justice Ginsburg’s legacy.

— ActBlue (@actblue) September 20, 2020

“It’s more clear than ever that people are tired of Senator Hyde-Smith’s record of hurting this state and holding it back,” said Espy for Senate campaign manager Joe O’Hern. “Mississippians are looking for an independent leader who is standing up for them — not a Senator who has hidden from them during a pandemic and the crushing economic crisis.”

Espy’s campaign is also touting a poll conducted in late August by the Tyson Group, an organization out of Ohio doing work for the Consumer Energy Alliance, showing the Democrat candidate down one point from incumbent Republican Sen. Hyde-Smith, claiming that Espy has closed the 26-point gap from a similar Tyson Group poll conducted in March 2020.