Fundraising by Bernie Sanders was flat in the second quarter of 2019 compared to his first-quarter haul and significantly behind his 2020 rival Pete Buttigieg.
His campaign announced $18 million in donations from about 1 million donors from April through June, according to figures released by his presidential campaign on Tuesday. It expects to report around $30 million in cash-on-hand, though that number is not finalized.
The Vermont senator raised $18.2 million from 525,000 donors starting from his presidential campaign launch on Feb. 19 through the end of March, the most of any of the Democratic presidential hopefuls in the race at that time. Former Vice President Joe Biden had not yet entered the race, joining the field on April 25.
The fundraising announcement puts Sanders nearly $7 million behind primary rival South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, whose presidential campaign announced Monday that it raised $24.8 million in the second quarter of 2019. Buttigieg’s eyebrow-raising sum is expected to cement his place in the top tier of candidates.
When announcing the fundraising haul to reporters, Sanders campaign manager Faiz Shakir criticized what candidates tell donors at closed-door fundraisers and said that big-dollar donations come with strings attached.
Shakir singled out a comment Biden made at a recent fundraiser. “We learned that he said that ‘nothing will fundamentally change’ for you. That’s what he told some of his high-end donors in a closed-door room,” Shakir said.
“If nothing fundamentally changes for billionaires and millionaires of this country, then nothing fundamentally changes for the everyday people of this country,” added Nina Turner, Sanders campaign national co-chairwoman and a former Democratic Ohio state senator.
The Sanders campaign also transferred $6 million from other accounts in the second quarter. About 99% of donors gave less than $100, the campaign said. The average donation was $18 — lower than the $20 average donation announced for the first quarter and the $27 average donation from is 2016 presidential bid.
Sanders has fallen in the polls since launching his campaign, with many previous supporters turning to Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who some see as a more palatable progressive candidate.
A CNN poll of likely Democratic presidential primary voters released Monday and conducted after the first round of Democratic presidential primary debates found Sanders with 14% support, slipping to fourth place behind Biden, Warren, and California Sen. Kamala Harris.
