First quarter fundraising totals have been released and Bernie Sanders has established himself as a clear front-runner among the democrats. Sanders has earned a total of $18.2 million in the first 41 days of his campaign.
While other presidential hopefuls are yet to announce their totals (and are not required to until April 15), Sanders is expected to remain the lead among Democrats.
Coming in just behind Sanders’ total, Kamala Harris posted an impressive $12 million for her campaign. Most surprisingly, Pete Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, IN, brought in a total of $7 million despite having very little name recognition by comparison to other democratic presidential hopefuls.
As promised, here’s a more complete breakdown our Q1 fundraising metrics, including number of donors (158,550), average donation ($36.35), and the percent of our total raised that came in through contributions under $200 (64%) — second half of video to follow. #PeteforAmerica
pic.twitter.com/41gedmRiNW— Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) April 2, 2019
The field, however, is not yet set. Many highly-rumored potential candidates – like Joe Biden and Stacey Abrams – are yet to officially announce their intentions for 2020. Though they seem to be keeping spots warm for themselves.
In #LeadFromTheOutside, I explore how to be intentional about plans, but flexible enough to adapt. 20 years ago, I never thought I’d be ready to run for POTUS before 2028. But life comes at you fast – as I shared in Q&A w @Yamiche at @sxsw. Now 2020 is definitely on the table…
— Stacey Abrams (@staceyabrams) March 11, 2019
The amount of money raised this cycle is less by comparison to previous years, as reliance on big money donors has come to be view negatively by democratic voters. In 2016, Hillary Clinton raised more than $45 million and prior to the 2008 primary she’d brought in $36 million. Barack Obama reported $26 million in the same time frame.
Sanders also led in terms of numbers of donors, with 525,000 unique donors. Still, that total falls well short of his stated goal of 1 million.
An incredible 525,000 people have already contributed to our campaign.
The most common profession? Teachers. The average donation? Just $20.
This campaign is about all of us—not billionaire donors and Super PACs.
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) April 2, 2019
Now check these out:
11 Black Political Commentators That Will Have All The Tea On The 2020 Election
How To Hold Your Representative Accountable
7 Things To Know About Kamala Harris’ Bid For Presidential Candidacy
