Booker is 74% of the way to $1.7 million fundraising goal

Cory Booker is two-thirds of the way toward his goal of raising $1.7 million before the end of September, after his campaign took a huge strategic gambit by saying he might need to withdraw from the race without a fundraising bonanza.

Campaign manager Addisu Demissie said this morning that Booker has raised $1,269,551 since Saturday.  The campaign needs to raise $428,474 in the next four days.

Booker acknowledged that a public announcement that he might need to drop out of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination was dicey.

“When we announced such an ambitious goal, I’ll admit that I was a bit uncertain as to whether we’d get there,” Booker said in an email to supporters this morning.  “It was a huge risk. But right now, I’m feeling more confident than ever that we can actually hit our goal.”