Elizabeth Warren’s campaign announces big February fundraising haul and predicts an unsettled race going forward

Elizabeth Warren is settling in for a long primary and, after a strong month of fundraising, is prepared to take the campaign all the way to the Democratic convention this summer.

In a new memo, campaign manager Roger Lau announced that the Massachusetts senator in February raised more than $29 million — bettering even her strongest quarterly number so far. He also declared the campaign ready to “compete in every state and territory and ultimately prevail at the national convention in Milwaukee.”

Warren suffered another disappointing finish on Saturday in South Carolina, likely placing fifth, but Lau said she is in “a strong position to earn a sizable delegate haul” in the March 3 contests. He also predicted that none of the candidates will emerge from Super Tuesday on track to win a majority of delegates and clinch the nomination on a first ballot.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who came in a distant second to former Vice President Joe Biden in South Carolina, currently holds a narrow lead in the delegate race. His campaign also reporting raising a remarkable $46.5 million over the past month. If none of the candidate reaches a majority, or 1,991 pledged delegates, by the end of the primary, the contest could go to a second ballot in Milwaukee, potentially setting off a bitter and divisive floor fight.

Warren, in a CNN town hall last week, said she was prepared to carry all the way through to the convention if no one secures a clinching majority before then.

Lau, in his memo Sunday morning, gave a rundown of the March primaries but suggested the race might only come into clear focus after April 7 — when Wisconsin votes.

“After Wisconsin nearly one-third of the pledged delegates will still be waiting to be elected, and there will be a three-week gap between electing delegates for the first time since voting began,” Lau said. “In the road to the nomination, the Wisconsin primary is halftime, and the convention in Milwaukee is the final play.”

The Warren campaign was given a boost toward the end of February when a super PAC began spending to back her across the map. Despite swearing off the support of such groups for much of the primary, and criticizing rivals who did not, Warren has not called on the group — which does not have to disclose its financial backers until later this month — to stand down.

Lau didn’t mention the super PAC in his memo, but pointed to new investments made over the past week.

The campaign, he wrote, has upped its spending in Super Tuesday states to “more than $2.4 million” and registered “more than $4.1 million” in advertising beyond then, in states including Arizona, Illinois and Georgia, which all vote in March, all the way to Wisconsin.