Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign announced Thursday that it raised a “staggering” $34.5 million from an average donation of just $18.53 in the fourth quarter of 2019, the largest single-quarter fundraising haul of any candidate in the Democratic primary so far.
“Bernie Sanders is closing the year with the most donations of any candidate in history at this point in a presidential campaign,” Faiz Shakir, Sanders’ campaign manager, said in a statement, pointing to the five million individual contributions the senator amassed in 2019.
“He is proving each and every day that working class Americans are ready and willing to fully fund a campaign that stands up for them and takes on the biggest corporations and the wealthy,” said Shakir. “You build a grassroots movement to beat Donald Trump and create a political revolution one $18 donation at a time, and that’s exactly why Bernie is going to win.”
The Sanders campaign said it has raised more than $96 million since launching in February, and 99.9 percent of donors have not maxed out—meaning they can continue to donate.
In the fourth quarter, “teacher” was the most common occupation of Sanders donors and Amazon, Starbucks, Walmart, the United States Postal Service, and Target were the most common employers. The Sanders campaign said it received 40,000 new donors on the final day of the fourth quarter, and 300,000 new donors in the fourth quarter overall.
Just two other Democratic presidential candidates—Pete Buttigieg and Andrew Yang—have announced their fundraising totals for the fourth quarter. Buttigieg said Wednesday that his campaign raised $24.7 million in the fourth quarter and Yang announced a haul of $16.5 million.