Tim Scott is the longshot candidate raising the most cash

GOP candidates hoping to knock off Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis raised a combined $21 million from donors in the second quarter — underscoring just how difficult it is to break out of the pack.

The former president and Florida Governor still have a firm financial lead on the rest of the field. DeSantis’ campaign reported raising more than $20 million, while Trump’s campaign officially reported $17 million into his campaign in the quarter, after touting a large number raised by his joint fundraising committee.

Leading the rest of the field in fundraising were the two South Carolinians. Sen. Tim Scott reported $5.8 million in receipts, followed by Nikki Haley at $5.3 million. For Scott, the figure was relatively strong compared to the field but less than he raised in his best quarter of his most recent Senate campaign. The Senator also spent more than he raised over the quarter. He still had $21 million cash on hand, largely thanks to his strong history of fundraising as a senator, a metric in which he is ahead of DeSantis and close to Trump.

The best quarterly fundraising totals beyond Trump and DeSantis came from two longshots who threw in substantial shares of their own funds. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum put $10.2 million into his own campaign while bringing in $1.5 million in donations, while biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy added another $5 million of his own money this quarter while raising $2.3 million from donors.

After that, the cash drop off was sharp. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie brought in $1.7 million in the second quarter, while former Vice President Mike Pence brought in $1.1 million since launching his campaign in June.

Texas pastor and businessperson Ryan Binkley also added nearly $1.6 million of his own money to his under-the-radar campaign while raising a bit shy of $200,000.

A handful of longshot candidates had yet to crack the $1 million threshold through the end of June. Miami Mayor Francis Suarez brought in $945,000 through the first weeks of his campaign, while former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who has been in the race since April, brought in $583,000.

Larry Elder, who was a strong fundraiser during his bid during the California recall election for governor, brought in just $468,000. Former Rep. Will Hurd raised $274,000, although that was done in a bit over a week as the former Texas representative announced his presidential bid in late June.