Newt Gingrich's campaign released a Web video Monday of the presidential hopeful calling his 175,000th donor, a milestone his campaign in heralding as evidence of broad-based support.
In the video, Gingrich thanks Samuel Samford, a warehouse manager from Jacksonville, Fla., who donated $2.50 to Gingrich's effort. The former House Speaker's campaign has been pushing supporters to donate in increments of "Gingrich gallons," a play on the candidate's plan that he says would drive gas prices down to $2.50 per gallon by opening up more federally-owned and offshore areas to oil drilling.
"Given our new campaign for $2.50 gasoline we thought it was doubly good that the person that was number 175,000 would give $2.50," Gingrich tells Samford in the video.
It's not clear where Gingrich's 175,000 donors rank relative to other candidates, because campaigns are only required to itemize donations from donors who have given more than $200 to a campaign. Of those donors, Gingrich had nearly 14,000 donors, versus just over 110,000 for President Obama, just over 40,000 for Mitt Romney and slightly more than 30,000 for Ron Paul. The Obama campaign has said that it had 1.3 million total donors total, including those who gave small amounts.
“From the very beginning, we set out to run a people-powered campaign based on the creativity and enthusiasm of Americans looking to dismantle the old order and rebuild the America we love,” said Gingrich in a statement. “I’m proud to have Samuel Samford and our additional 174,999 donors standing with me as we work together to fundamentally change Washington. Not only have they donated their hard-earned money, but they have also volunteered countless hours of their time, and [my wife] and I are extremely grateful for their support.”
