United States Presidential contender Bernie Sanders raised US$18.2 million in the first three months of this year for his 2020 White House bid, his campaign said Tuesday, giving him an early fundraising lead in a crowded Democratic primary field.
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Sanders, a self-proclaimed social democrat and U.S. senator from Vermont making his second run for the White House, received 900,000 donations from 525,000 individual donors, the vast majority under age 39, campaign manager Faiz Shakir told reporters. The average donation was US$20.
About 20 percent of donors were new supporters of Sanders, he said. Sanders ran for the presidency in 2016, but lost the Democratic nomination to Hillary Clinton. The race was so close that a coin had to be tossed to determine the winner of the Iowa Caucus, considered one of the more crucial votes as the results generally set the tone for the remainder of the primaries.
Fundraising totals are a closely watched early indicator of a candidate's support, and Sanders has outpaced the other two Democrats who have announced totals. U.S. Senator Kamala Harris of California raised US$12 million, and Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, said he raised US$7 million in the first quarter.