Castro reaches $800,000 fundraising goal and is staying in the race

Democratic presidential candidate Julian Castro raised $800,000 in the last 10 days of October, a fundraising figure that he said was necessary in order to continue his campaign.

The Castro campaign received more than $1 million in October from “nearly 50,000 donors,” according to a campaign statement, and on Thursday the campaign enjoyed its best fundraising day since August.

Castro had previously said that if he did not reach the $800,000 figure before the end of the month, he would have to end his 2020 bid. Fundraising has been a struggle for Castro, with the former Housing and Urban Development secretary and San Antonio mayor entering the fourth quarter of 2019 with less than $700,000 in the bank.

“Time and time again this campaign has defied expectations with the support of an army of dedicated, grassroots supporters,” Castro campaign manager Maya Rupert said in a statement Friday. “We set an extremely ambitious goal to keep Secretary Castro’s voice in this race, and our supporters met the challenge and delivered one of the best months of the campaign to date.”

The announcement of Castro’s fundraising comes as the candidate heads to Iowa, a key early voting state, for the weekend to discuss affordable housing, according to the statement.

Castro has not yet qualified for the November debate, having failed to reach the 3% polling threshold despite meeting the donor requirement.