The Washington PostDemocracy Dies in Darkness

Bernie Sanders has now received 2 million campaign contributions, aides say

December 16, 2015 at 9:12 p.m. EST
Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders takes part in a presidential debate sponsored by CNN in Las Vegas in October. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Aides to Bernie Sanders said Wednesday night that his campaign has now collected more than 2 million contributions and that they expect to outpace President Obama’s 2012 reelection effort on that count by the end of the year.

The number reflects an operation that has focused on raising money in small increments from an exceptionally wide range of donors — with the vast majority of contributions coming over the Internet. As of Wednesday, the average donation to Sanders’s campaign was less than $30, aides said.

The campaign did not release the number of unique donors to Sanders — many people have given more than once — but aides said that figure is approaching 1 million.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a White House contender in 2016, is known for his stances on budget issues and war. Here are his takes on Obamacare, Social Security and more. (Video: Julie Percha/The Washington Post)

Hillary Clinton, the Democratic front-runner, had raised more money overall than Sanders — $77.5 million to $41.5 million — as of Sept. 30, the last deadline for reporting contributions to the Federal Election Commission. But the Vermont senator had received more donations than any candidate from either party — a trend that appears to be continuing.

[At Washington mosque, Sanders blasts Trump’s ‘bigoted’ proposal for Muslims]

With Sanders nearing the 2 million mark, his campaign made a big push this week through email solicitations to cross the threshold.

An online ticker set up Wednesday night kept track of the number of donations as it neared 2 million. The goal was surpassed at 8:11 p.m., according to the ticker.

Aides said that Sanders had raised $1.1 million on Wednesday alone and $2.4 million since announcing his push on Monday.

Sanders has already taken in more individual contributions than Obama did at this point in his 2008 campaign for president. Aides to Sanders said they are confident by the end of the year, Sanders will have more than the 2.2 million donations that Obama did during the equivalent stretch in the 2012 race.

As they approached the 2 million mark, Sanders's campaign cut an ad to commemorate the achievement. Aides said the ad, narrated by Sanders, will run both on television and on the Internet.

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders released an ad to commemorate having over two million contributions made to his campaign. (Video: YouTube/Bernie Sanders)