The governing BC NDP is in such a dominant financial position heading into the fall election that it appears to have raised more money in the most recent quarter than all of its political opponents combined.
While all the final figures aren’t quite out yet, the early numbers do paint an extraordinary picture on a couple of fronts.
At more than $2.2 million raised between April and the end of June, the NDP is far and away the big-money party in British Columbia politics today. It broke its own record for quarterly fundraising (outside of during an actual election campaign period), as well as its single-day record of $670,000 on June 27.
Partly, the NDP’s success dates back to its focus on individual donors, which are key since the ban on corporate and union donations in 2018. But the NDP is also riding high on the perks of power, where it’s easier to draw big crowds when people are paying to rub elbows with powerful cabinet ministers and the premier.
“We have a plan in place in our campaign to make sure that we're connecting with people on the ground and in our advertising,” said NDP campaign director Marie Della Mattia.
“We want to make sure that we're talking to people where they're at, about what they care about. And so this is really going to help us do that.”
The second extraordinary aspect of the latest quarterly fundraising totals is the performance of the BC Conservatives.
The upstart party managed to surge from $65,370 at this time last year, to $1.1 million in the last three months. It has almost tripled its fundraising from the last quarter alone.
It’s a breakthrough moment for the Conservatives.
The $1-million dollar threshold represents the amount BC United brought in during the last three months of 2023, before all the defections, drama and collapsing poll numbers. You could say it marks another way in which the Conservatives have supplanted United as the leading challenger to the NDP.
“This was the best fundraising quarter in our party’s history,” said Angelo Isidorou, BC Conservative executive director.
“Our momentum is picking up speed as more and more voters see us as the only viable alternative to the radical BC NDP.”
The Conservative fundraising total is also a psychological milestone because it shows the party is more than just a lucky run of polling numbers. The only way to haul in $1.1 million in donations in B.C. today is to hustle hundreds of real people into donating real money towards your cause.
It validates the approach leader John Rustad has taken so far this year, crisscrossing the province, holding more events, making more speeches and shaking more hands than any other political leader.
If the Conservatives can leverage this money into improving their organization, crafting an advertising campaign and beginning to put together an election war room, they could be a force to be reckoned with come Oct. 19.
BC United, meanwhile, could not provide any financial figures Tuesday — the only party unable to do so. United’s second-quarter total is believed to be below $1 million, though how much lower remains to be seen.
One of United’s advantages up until this point has been its deep war chest of funds and its organizational expertise. But those advantages are dwindling rapidly now that the party has been surpassed on fundraising by the Conservatives.
The BC Greens said they raised $334,000 during the same quarter, which is a respectable figure for the party, but does not show the kind of pre-election surge that the NDP and Conservatives enjoy.
Altogether, the Greens, United and Conservatives barely reach the NDP’s $2.2 million total.
A sign the NDP, despite all its criticism on major files, is still sitting pretty in the run-up to election day.
Rob Shaw has spent more than 16 years covering B.C. politics, now reporting for CHEK News and writing for Glacier Media. He is the co-author of the national bestselling book A Matter of Confidence, host of the weekly podcast Political Capital, and a regular guest on CBC Radio.
