Sanders Raised $25 Million in January, Campaign Says

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) accompanied by his family, speaks to supporters at a caucus night campaign rally in Des Moines, Iowa, on Feb. 3, 2020. Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Photo

The presidential campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said he raised $25 million in January, more than his top rivals raised in any quarter in 2019.

The money came through 1.3 million contributions from 648,000 people, 219,000 of whom are new donors, Sanders’s campaign said.

“Bernie’s multiracial, multigenerational, people-driven movement for change is fueling 2020’s most aggressive campaign for president,” campaign manager Faiz Shakir said in a statement. “Working-class Americans giving $18 at a time are putting our campaign in a strong position to compete in states all over the map.”

Sanders has raised more than $121 million since announcing his presidential bid in February 2019. He raised the most in the fourth quarter of 2019, garnering $34.5 million, which is almost $10 million more than the nearest candidate, former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

The January haul will go in part to adding staff members and spending $5.5 million on new or expanded advertisement campaigns in states voting on March 3, or Super Tuesday, aides say. Voters in California, Texas, and other crucial primary states will head to the polls that day.

The announcement by Sanders’s campaign came as Sanders and Buttigieg were neck and neck in the Iowa caucuses with some results still to be released.

Democratic presidential candidates Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), left, and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg in file photographs. The winner of the Iowa Democratic caucuses hasn't been named as of Feb. 6, 2020, with just 3 percent of the results left to release. Sean Rayford and Spencer Platt/Getty Images

“Our campaign is made up of hard-working staff, volunteers, and supporters who over and over again overcome adversity because we are led by a senator who’s spent his life doing what is hard and standing on the side of working Americans,” Sanders’s Iowa state director Misty Rebik wrote in a campaign memo sent to staff and reporters on Feb. 5.

Rebik said the campaign was working to confirm caucus results and that it’s possible Sanders would win each of the three steps in the caucus process.

The Iowa Democratic Party’s caucus features voters grouping together to show their support for chosen candidates. Any groups that don’t represent 15 percent or more of the total number of voters at a certain location are considered non-viable and the voters can redirect their support to another candidate.

A second count is tallied after people realign with other candidates. That count is used to determine what are called state delegate equivalents. The final number is used to determine the number of delegates each candidate will send to the Democratic National Convention in July.

As candidates wait on the full Iowa caucus results, most are campaigning in New Hampshire, where the first primary in the nation will be held on Feb. 11. Seven candidates will debate in the state on Feb. 7, including Buttigieg and Sanders.