Sanders raises $46.5 million in February, smashing own record
Senator Bernie Sanders' campaign announced Sunday it raised $46.5 million in February, the most of any Democratic presidential candidate in a given month in the 2020 election cycle. The figure shatters the previous monthly record of $25 million, set by the Sanders campaign in January.
According to the campaign, the cash haul came from more than 2.2 million donations, including contributions from more than 350,000 donors who were giving to the campaign for the first time. The Vermont senator's fundraising efforts were fueled by victories in the early primary states of New Hampshire and Nevada, and a first-place finish in the popular vote in Iowa.
Senator Elizabeth Warren also announced her February fundraising numbers on Sunday, saying she pulled in $29 million, a record for her campaign.
Since February 2019, Sanders has raised more than $167 million from 1.9 million people who made 8.7 million contributions, surpassing the total number of individual contributions given to Sanders' 2016 presidential bid. About $4.5 million poured in on Saturday, the final day of February, making it his single best fundraising day to date even as he came in second to Joe Biden in the South Carolina primary.
In an interview on "Face the Nation" on Sunday, Sanders said his fundraising prowess gives him the edge over his Democratic rivals and would allow him to compete against President Trump in the general election.
"We have enough money now not only to take us through Super Tuesday but to take us through the entire process, fueled by the contributions of working class people all across this country," Sanders said.
The campaign said 99.9% of Sanders' donors have not reached the federal limit on individual contributions, meaning they can give again. The average donation in February was $21.
"The senator's multigenerational, multiracial working class coalition keeps fueling his campaign for transformational change a few bucks at a time," campaign manager Faiz Shakir said in a statement. "We're especially proud that of the more than 2 million donations we received this month, over 1.4 million were from voters in states that vote on Super Tuesday."
Along with announcing its record cash haul, Sanders' campaign also said it would begin buying television ads in nine states with primary contests on March 10 and 17, including Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Washington, Arizona, Florida, Illinois and Ohio.
According to Kantar/Campaign Media Analysis Group, Sanders is second only to Michael Bloomberg in spending on TV and radio ads in Super Tuesday states. The group has tracked more than $16 million in ad spending in those states heading into the March 3 contests. Sanders' campaign said it's currently on the air in 12 out of the 14 states voting that day.
Warren's campaign said it raised $2.8 million of her $29 million total on the day of Warren's well-received debate performance in Nevada on February 19.
According to Warren campaign manager Roger Lau, 250,000 people donated for the first time in February, bringing the campaign's total number of donors since its launch to more than 1.25 million. The average February donation was $31.
Warren's campaign also said it was increasing its Super Tuesday ad spending to $2.4 million. The campaign invested more than $4.1 million in media in every state that votes later in March and Wisconsin, which votes April 7, as well as a $700,000 in radio, print and mail to key constituencies across March voting states.
Meanwhile, Joe Biden's campaign said it raised $5 million on Saturday as the former vice president won South Carolina, eliciting contributions from "tens of thousands of new supporters." Biden has not yet released his fundraising numbers for the entire month.
Presidential candidates have a deadline of March 20 to file fundraising and spending reports with the Federal Election Commission.
