Presidential Hopefuls Riding Celeb Donations into Democratic Debate

The 10th Democratic Presidential debate's just moments away from kicking off and a long list of celebs are already backing their horse before the first issue is raised on stage.

We did a little digging ahead of Tuesday's South Carolina debate, and Federal Election Commission filings reveal one candidate flexed his muscles most ... when it came to celebrity donations in January -- Pete Buttigieg:
- Jesse Tyler Ferguson ($2,800)
- Chloe Grace Moretz ($500)
- Thomas Lennon ($500)

He got another $3,000, BTW, from Thomas last year.

As for frontrunner, Sen. Bernie Sanders:
- Simon Helberg ($1,500)
- Rashida Jones ($1,000)
- Danny DeVito  ($100)

Danny's a serious Bernie Bro too ... he also gave him $2,700 last year and even appears in one of his campaign ads.

Repping for Sen. Elizabeth Warren:
- Sally Field ($1,000)
- Lily Tomlin ($275)
- William Baldwin ($200)
- Yvette Brown ($328.56)

Honorable mention: Adam Scott and Elizabeth Banks didn't plunk down anything in January, but each donated $2,800 to Warren's campaign in December.

Not to be forgotten, Joe Biden got donations from Jean Smart ($340) and Josh Gad ($250) -- while Sen. Amy Klobuchar got some love from Sarah Jessica Parker ($250).