Bernie Sanders Campaign Says It Raised $46.5 Million In February

Daniel Marans and Hayley Miller
Updated ·3 min read

The presidential campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Sunday that it had raised $46.5 million in February, making it Sanders’ most lucrative month of the campaign and almost certainly the biggest monthly haul of any presidential candidate this election cycle.

The sum came from 2.2 million contributions, including donations from 350,000 first-time donors to the campaign. The average donation was $21 and the most common profession of donors was once again “teacher,” according to the campaign.

Campaign manager Faiz Shakir noted in a statement that over 1.4 million of the February donations came from voters in the 14 states, a U.S. territory and Democrats abroad that vote on Super Tuesday, March 3.

“The senator’s multigenerational, multiracial working class coalition keeps fueling his campaign for transformational change a few bucks at a time,” Shakir said.

Following a big loss to former Vice President Joe Biden in South Carolina on Saturday, the campaign is using the massive haul to project strength well beyond the Super Tuesday states. Sanders is purchasing televisions ads in states with March 10 contests such as Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri and Washington, as well as Arizona, Florida, Illinois and Ohio, which head to the polls on March 17. (The campaign says it is already on the air in 12 of the Super Tuesday states.)

Biden, who has struggled with fundraising, said Sunday morning that his campaign raised about $18 million last month, with $5 million of it pouring in over the past 24 hours.

“I think things are picking up but we’ll see,” Biden told “Fox News Sunday.”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who has had disappointing showings in the first handful of presidential primary contests, raised $29 million last month, her campaign announced Sunday.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) speaks at a rally in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on Saturday. After a big loss in South Carolina, Sanders is leveraging his money in future contests. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) speaks at a rally in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on Saturday. After a big loss in South Carolina, Sanders is leveraging his money in future contests. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Thanks to a popular vote win in Iowa and outright victories in New Hampshire and Nevada, Sanders remains the narrow leader in the Democratic primary field in terms of national delegates, holding a modest edge over Biden.

The continued strength of Sanders’ fundraising showcases an advantage that his rivals lack. His 2020 campaign has now raised $167 million from 8.7 million contributions; 99.9% of its donors can give again because they have yet to hit their legal maximum. The total number of individual contributions received has now surpassed those of his 2016 presidential bid, his staff said.

As of Feb. 20, Sanders trailed only fellow Democratic presidential hopefuls Michael Bloomberg and Tom Steyer in fundraising. Both billionaires, Bloomberg and Steyer have spent millions of dollars of their own money to fund their campaigns. Steyer, a venture capitalist, dropped out of the race on Saturday after coming in third in the South Carolina primary.

And in a sign that Sanders partisans are not easily discouraged, the most lucrative day of the month for the campaign was Saturday ― the day of Sanders’ South Carolina loss ― when the campaign brought in $4.5 million.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.