Here's What Fundraising Activity Reveals About Prospective Presidential Candidates

For months, the media frenzy has persisted as 2016 presidential candidate speculation runs rampant. While the Democrats have relative clarity regarding their ticket, their Republican counterparts face a much more convoluted path. We've been taunted by the news of dozens of informal feelers, heard of countless exploratory committees, and listened intently to CPAC speeches. From Cruz to Christie, Paul to Perry, the potential contenders are already well on their way of raising considerable funds, increasing campaign awareness, and galvanizing support. As of March 23rd, Ted Cruz is the first of the major prospective candidates to officially announce his bid.

Data provided by the Sunlight Foundation and presented by FindTheBest enables us to see live tallies of fundraiser events these presidential hopefuls have attended. The Sunlight Foundation collects invitations to speaker series and fundraisers, tallying total events per candidate. You'll note that as of Cruz's announcement, he has been by no means the most active of contenders. A handful of others who have yet to declare candidacy have attended as many or more events: Bush has more than tripled Cruz's count, with Paul and Christie similarly active. As others officially declare their candidacy and ramp up their fundraising action, the data below will automatically update to reflect the most current information.

Look through the prospective candidates below and see how active they have been on the fundraising circuit:

Presidential Prospectives' Fundraising Appearances (Since 2014 Midterms) | InsideGov

For a more granular look at historical and coming events, here is a list of the individual events themselves:

Presidential Prospectives' Fundraising Event Appearances (Since 2014 Midterms) | InsideGov