Bernie Sanders’ campaign trumpets massive $18.2 million fundraising haul from over half a million donors in just over a month

Reuters

• Sen. Bernie Sanders has raised roughly $18.2 million dollars since he hopped into the 2020 presidential race in late February, according to his campaign. 
• The money came from approximately 900,000 contributions via roughly 525,000 individual donors. 
• Sanders’ campaign manager, Faiz Shakir, said 20% of donations this quarter came from new donors.
• Jeff Weaver, a senior adviser to Sanders’ campaign, said it took 146 days for the senator’s campaign to get to 900,000 contributions in 2016. 

Sen. Bernie Sanders has raised roughly $18.2 million in the 41 days since he announced he’s running for president, according to his 2020 campaign, putting him way ahead of other Democratic candidates in terms of fundraising. 

Faiz Shakir, the Vermont senator’s 2020 campaign manager, told reporters on a press call on Tuesday that there were approximately 900,000 donations from 525,000 individual donors with an average of $20 per donation. Shakir said 20% of donations this quarter came from new donors.

Comparatively, Sen. Kamala Harris on Monday said she’s raised $12 million via 138,00 donors, as Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, said he has raised $7 million from 158,550 donors.

Read more: Kamala Harris’ 2020 campaign touts $12 million raised in the first 3 months of the year

Jeff Weaver, a senior adviser to Sanders’ campaign, said it took 146 days for the senator’s campaign to get to 900,000 contributions in 2016. 

Sanders’ campaign also touted his numbers with young voters so far.

Shakir told reporters a majority of the campaign’s donors are under the age of 39, which he described as "unprecedented" and "huge for us." He also said the profession with the most number of donors to the campaign "happened to be teachers," which he said was a big "point of pride" for the campaign. 

Shakir said the numbers reflect positively on how Sanders can take on President Donald Trump and the "powerful special interests" lining up behind him.

Read more: Bernie Sanders is running for president in 2020. Here’s everything we know about the candidate and how he stacks up against the competition.

"Bernie Sanders is a free man, not captured by industry, and is … going to fight for all the people," Shakir said. 

Shortly thereafter, campaign co-chair Nina Turner, a former Ohio state senator, noted recent polling that showed Sanders dominating the competition with young voters. 

"The polling is showing that he is strong among the 18 to 29-year-olds. They really understand the type of future that they want," Turner said. 

A poll conducted by Harvard’s Institute of Politics in early March found Sanders is ahead of his 2020 rivals by double digits with voters between the ages of 18 to 29.

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See Also:

• Tulsi Gabbard is running for president in 2020. Here’s everything we know about the candidate and how she stacks up against the competition.
• Bernie Sanders is running for president in 2020. Here’s everything we know about the candidate and how he stacks up against the competition.
• Pete Buttigieg is running for president in 2020. Here’s everything we know about the candidate and how he stacks up against the competition.

SEE ALSO: Bernie Sanders continues to dodge questions about releasing his tax returns, even as he pressures Trump to do the same

Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (John Haltiwanger)