Bernie Sanders Raises Over $3.3 Million From 120,000 Small Donors in Just 10 Hours
As one mainstream political observer noted, that's "pretty damn good."
Update (9:30 AM ET 2/20/19): 'Unprecedented': Bernie Sanders Campaign Says It Raised $6 Million From 225,000 Donors in First 24 Hours
In the 24 hours since Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont announced his 2020 run for president, his campaign on Wednesday morning reports that they were able to raise nearly $6 million from 225,000 individual donors across all 50 states.
According to a statement by the campaign, exactly 223,047 individuals contributed $5,925,771--putting the total raised over the $6 million mark with an average donation of $27. Since putting it online early Tuesday morning, the campaign said the senator's launch video has been viewed more than 8.3 million times across social media platforms, including 5.3 million views on Twitter alone.
Read the full updated story here.
Update (7:15 PM ET):
After an out-of-the-gate fundraising spree following the initial announcement early Tuesday morning (see below), sources from within the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign report that in just 10 hours--as of 5:00 PM ET--it was able to raise $3.3 million from approximately 120,000 donors.
The resulting donation average might sound familiar to those who remember the number Sanders turned into a catchphrase during his 2016 campaign: $27.
As other reporter's noted online, the Sanders campaign has now raised more money in less than half a day than the campaigns of Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, and Amy Klobuchar raised during their first 24 hours - combined:
\u201cThis Bernie Sanders $3.3 million > combination of Kamala's first 24 hours ($1.5 million) + Klobuchar's first 48 hours ($1 million) + Warren's first 18 hours via ActBlue ($300k)\u201d— Shane Goldmacher (@Shane Goldmacher) 1550618898
In addition to news that Faiz Shakir, formerly the national political director for the ACLU, has been hired to be Sanders' campaign manager, backers of Bernie's bid could be found applauding what they considered a very successful launch less than 12 hours into his 2020 run:
\u201cWe have raised 3.3 million so far today for the #PoliticalRevolution. \n\nLet\u2019s keep going!!!! @SenSanders sign, join, and more..\n\nCongratulations to Faiz Shakir the new Campaign Director. \n\n#TuesdayMotivation #Bernie2020\u201d— RoseAnn DeMoro (@RoseAnn DeMoro) 1550620724
\u201cI'm on the #Bernie2020 surrogates call and the Senator tells us he's the strongest candidate to beat Trump. We believe him. Especially given the fact that 3.3 million dollars has already been raised by 120k individual donors!. \n\nWe're doing this folks. We're doing it together.\u201d— Fred (@Fred) 1550619855
Earlier:
In just the first three hours following an announcement early Tuesday morning, the 2020 presidential campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) says it raised more than $1 million--with the number still climbing--proving the army of small-dollar donors which fueled his 2016 campaign are still on board, 'feeling the Bern,' and ready to put their hard-earned money behind the Democratic candidate of their choice.
According to sources from within the campaign, as of 11:00 AM Eastern time, Sanders raised $1.2 million from approximately 42,000 individual donors in all fifty states.
Reacting on MSNBC, the Washington Post's Jonathan Capeheart--based on earlier reports the campaign had raised over $1 million since the 7:00 AM launch--couldn't help but acknowledge that Sanders' morning fundraising haul was "pretty damn good."
As Josh Orton, a senior advisor to Sanders, tweeted at 10:39 AM:
\u201cYes, you read that correctly. \n\n$1,000,000 since 7AM Eastern time today.\u201d— Josh Orton (@Josh Orton) 1550590743
Subsequently, the campaign confirmed the number continued to climb and other outlets reported it had exceeded the $1.5 million mark.
As The Daily Beast noted, Sanders was able to raise more money in a matter of hours than Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) raised in the entire first day of her campaign:
Up to this point, Harris had been the most dynamic fundraiser among Democratic candidates in the race, having raised a whopping $1.5 million in 24 hours after declaring from more than 38,000 individual donors. That number, the Harris campaign noted at the time, had surpassed the number of individual donors for Sanders in his first day of running during his 2016 bid. Now, Sanders' current campaign, says they have already received contributions that beat both of those figures.
According to a Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks, mainstream political pundits continue to underestimate the "power of small-dollar donors" and how--since his 2016 campaign--Sanders has been able to upend the political landscape by creating a source of campaign revenue that comes from people, not corporate interests or large campaign committees:
RoseAnn DeMoro, former president of National Nurses United (NNU) and a prominent Sanders backer, said there's no reason the campaign couldn't maintain the pace--or even exceed it--over the course of the day:
\u201cYes!\nCan we make it $5 million? It\u2019s going to be a killer campaign.\n\nThe #MSM and the #PoliticalEstablishment will do everything in their power to stop #Bernie2020. \n\nLies, deception, betrayal and rigging.\n\nEvery signature and dollar matters. #BernieSanders\n\n#TuesdayMotivation\u201d— RoseAnn DeMoro (@RoseAnn DeMoro) 1550593383
