Sanders trails Buttigieg by millions in second-quarter money chase
Bernie Sanders raised $18 million over the past three months, his campaign announced Tuesday — trailing significantly behind Pete Buttigieg after leading the Democratic pack in the first quarter of 2019.
Staffers said the Vermont senator has received about 2 million individual contributions this year, and 45 percent of his donors are under the age of 40. He also transferred $6 million from previous campaign accounts, his aides said.
Sanders’ average donation was $18, less than his $27 per person contribution that became a rallying cry for him in 2016. More than 99 percent of the donations were $100 or less, his campaign said.
The leading profession of donors this electoral cycle is teachers, while the top employer of contributors is Walmart. Sanders has called on the corporation to raise its minimum wage $15 per hour, and confronted its executives about its “starvation wages” at the annual shareholders meeting in June.
“It is the kind of support that we would take any day of the week over a cushy, closed-door, high-dollar fundraiser in New York City in which people eat parmesan-crusted salmon on toothpicks,” said Faiz Shakir, Sanders’ campaign manager. “We’re very honored to have a working-class movement all across America.”
Without naming names, Sanders campaign co-chair Nina Turner said “one of the candidates immediately went to the donor class” to discuss his performance after the debate. Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke spoke to his top contributors and bundlers in a call afterward about how to improve in the next debate, CNBC reported.
Sanders’ campaign said it raised more than $4 million from Thursday night after the debate to Sunday.
Sanders’ aides also said that his financial support is more durable than other candidates in the race who rely on maxed-out contributions because almost all of his backers can contribute again under campaign finance limits. Indeed, his online, small-dollar fundraising is the envy of the Democratic field.
Buttigieg’s campaign said Monday he brought in nearly $25 million in the last three months.
Sanders raised more than $18 million in the first quarter of his presidential campaign.