Democratic 2020 Presidential Candidates First-Quarter Fundraising Totals: Bernie Sanders Leads With $18.2 Million

On Wednesday, the fundraising totals for each 2020 Democratic presidential candidate were revealed, and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) topped the list with $18.2 million.

Sanders, who lost his first bid for the Democratic nomination for president to Hillary Clinton in 2016, appears to have gained even stronger support this time around. The 77-year-old progressive Senator has mostly received small donations from individual voters rather than large contributions from corporations or political action committees (PACs). Sanders has pushed for Medicare-for-All, free or affordable college and higher minimum wages, among other things, as part of his 2020 campaign.

Update (April 15): Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) raised $3 million for her 2020 presidential campaign in the first quarter of 2019, her campaign announced Sunday, April 14. That puts the 52-year-old near the bottom of the list of 2020 Democratic contenders in terms of fundraising, as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who raised more than $6 million in the first quarter of the year, while Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) each raked in approximately $5 million.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) also raised $2.25 million since officially joining the race on March 1, while Barack Obama‘s former Housing Secretary Julian Castro has raised $1.1 million in three months.

1 million volunteers signed up.
$18.2 million raised.
900,000 individual contributions.

That’s the strength of our movement so far. Help us keep the momentum! Sign up to host an Organizing Kickoff event on April 27. #OrganizeWithBernie https://t.co/TUTI92gHd7

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) April 3, 2019

Here are the next 2020 Democratic presidential candidates by the highest number of donations received thus far:

2. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.): $12 million 

Harris raised $12 million in the first quarter of 2019. The 54-year-old former California prosecutor and attorney general said she received contributions from more than 218,000 individuals.

Like Sanders, she has focused on small-donor contributions, and boasted that 98 % of her donations were less than $100.

Over the last two months, the response to our campaign has been inspiring:

– $12 million raised
– 218,000 individual contributions
– 99% of donors can give again

No corporate PACs. No federal lobbyists. A real, grassroots campaign — by the people and for the people.

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) April 2, 2019

3. Beto O’Rourke: $9.4 million

Former Rep. O’Rourke (D-Texas) broke a record within the first 24 hours of him announcing his 2020 presidential campaign on March 14: he received $6.1 million in donations. The 46-year-old also had the highest per-day fundraising total, per The Washington Post: (Note: not all reporters’ average fundraising totals are the same, as some accounted for the fact that not all candidates announced their 2020 campaigns on the same day, while others did not)

To account for candidates entering the race at different stages in the first quarter, the daily haul for candidates so far:

Beto O’Rourke: $522k
Bernie Sanders: $444k
Kamala Harris: $171k
Pete Buttigieg $103k

— Matt Viser (@mviser) April 3, 2019

O’Rourke has also received money from only small donors and not from PACs, corporations or lobbyists.

SLIDESHOW: TOP DEMOCRATS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT IN 2020

You left us speechless on day one. Together, we raised $6.1 MILLION for Beto in the first 24 hours without taking a dime from lobbyists, PACs, or corporations. Other candidates have had more time to raise money, but we aren’t slowing down. Can you make a contribution now?

— Beto O’Rourke (@BetoORourke) March 22, 2019

Deeper dive than most of you care about:

Excluding their first day hauls (O’Rourke $6.1 mil, Sanders $6 mil), Sanders raised $305,000 per day as a candidate while O’Rourke raised $194,117 per day as a candidate). https://t.co/4gl0mBwrVH

— Ben Kamisar (@bkamisar) April 3, 2019

4. Pete Buttigieg: $7.1 million 

Buttigieg, the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana, is the youngest candidate in the 2020 presidential race thus far, and also the first openly gay presidential contender in American history. An Afghanistan war veteran who is also an intellectual — he speaks seven languages and is a prolific piano player — Buttigieg tweeted a video on Monday in which he said his team is “outperforming expectations at every turn.” In total, Buttigieg — known by many as “Mayor Pete” — received contributions from 158,550 donors. He has proposed abolishing the Electoral College and moving to a national popular vote for presidential elections, among other things.

As promised, here’s a more complete breakdown our Q1 fundraising metrics, including number of donors (158,550), average donation ($36.35), and the percent of our total raised that came in through contributions under $200 (64%) — second half of video to follow. #PeteforAmerica pic.twitter.com/41gedmRiNW

— Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) April 2, 2019

5. Elizabeth Warren: $6 million

6. Amy Klobuchar: $5.2 million

7. Cory Booker: $5 million 

8. Kirsten Gillibrand: $3 million 

9. Andrew Yang: $2.4 million 

Yang, a 44-year-old businessman from New York, has stressed the threat of robotization and artificial intelligence to unemployment and the economy overall and proposed a universal basic income of $1,000 per month for all Americans to cover basic necessities as part of his campaign.

10. Jay Inslee: $2.25 million 

Inslee said his 2020 campaign will largely focus on climate change, an issue that has proved increasingly contentious between Democrats and Republicans.

11. Rep. John Delaney (D-Md.): $1.7 million 

Delaney, the first Democrat to announce a 2020 run for president, received less than $435,000 in outside contributions, the lowest amount out of all candidates in the race.

12. Julian Castro: $1.1 million 

President Donald Trump also recorded a whopping fundraising sum for his 2020-reelection campaign in the first quarter of 2019: $30 million, roughly the same amount as the top two Democrats combined.

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