Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders crushed his fellow Democratic presidential candidates in fundraising for 2019, new research shows.
Sanders had 1.38 million unique donors last year, The Washington Post reported Monday. Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren came in second for 2020 nominees with 884,000 unique donors. South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg was slightly behind in third with 728,000.
Sanders raised $109 million in total for 2019. President Donald Trump has raised more than $860 million since his election with the help of the GOP. Both Sanders and Trump have excelled in collecting large numbers of small donations, which many political analysts attribute to their populist, anti-establishment message. (RELATED: Trump Calls Bernie Sanders ‘A Communist,’ Blasts Other Democrats In Super Bowl Pregame Interview)
Former Vice President Joe Biden, who holds a slight lead in most national polls, had the fourth most unique donors with 448,000. Businessman Andrew Yang finished right behind Biden with 367,000.
(Photo by KEREM YUCEL/AFP via Getty Images)
The Washington Post found that Sanders’ donors came from zip codes with the lowest median income of all major Democratic candidates and were the second most ethnically diverse. Sanders exceeded 4 million total donations in November thanks to his monthly giving signup for small donations that includes nearly 2 million donors.
Small donations have become an increasingly crucial part of campaign fundraising in recent elections. One reason for this is the rise of online donations. ActBlue, the Democratic Party’s online fundraising machine founded in 2004, has been the highlight of what’s been a disastrous past few fundraising cycles for the Democratic National Convention. In response to this success, the GOP launched WinRed in June, helping to capitalize on Trump’s large base of small donors through an online format. (RELATED: Report: Bernie Campaign Spends $1.2 Million On Private Jets, Leads Democratic Field)
The Post also reported that 737,000 people donated to Trump or affiliated Republican committees in the second half of 2019.