Sanders holds commanding edge among Democrats in Latino donations: study

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has received more than four times the amount of campaign contributions from Latinos than any other candidate in the Democratic presidential primary. 

According to a study published Thursday by the technology company Plus 3, Sanders has received more than $8.2 million from Latinos as of the last Federal Election Commission filing deadline. That’s $6 million more than Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who received about $2 million each from Latinos. Former Vice President Joe Biden received about $1.4 million and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) received about $319,000. 

However, the study also found that Latino campaign contributions fell by 25 percent in mid-2019, as the crowded field began to narrow.  

When former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) left the race, they had earned $2.6 million and $1.8 million from Latinos, respectively. 

Latinos in San Antonio, Castro’s hometown where he was once mayor, donated more than those in any other city, followed by Los Angeles and then El Paso, where O’Rourke is from. 

“Overall, $6.5 million dollars and 315,000 Latino contributions have in effect disappeared as the field of candidates has narrowed from 23 candidates to 5 leading candidates,” the study said. 

The study comes after the New Hampshire primary, where Sanders won the popular vote but was closely trailed by Buttigieg. The two received the same amount of delegates from the state.

In the earlier Iowa caucuses, Buttigieg topped Sanders by less than 1 percentage point, picking up two delegates more.

Exit polls showed Sanders doing best among young voters and people of color in Iowa and New Hampshire. That could boost Sanders as the Democratic fight shifts to Nevada, with a large Latino population, and South Carolina, with a large black population.

Nevada, which holds its primary on Feb. 22, is almost 30 percent Latino.

According to the study, more Latinos in Nevada contributed to the Sanders campaign than to any other candidate.

The largest states by population — California and Texas, both of which have significant Latino populations — hold their primaries on Super Tuesday, March 3. Those states fell under the national trend, with Latinos donating more to Sanders than Warren and Buttigieg. 

The study was conducted by analyzing data from Actblue, a small-dollar donation service used by federal candidates. The study identified the number of Latinos by matching the names on the latest FEC filings to “Frequently Occurring Surnames” in the 2010 census report. It found that in total, 1.7 million Latinos donated $23,734,093.62 to Democratic presidential primary candidates up until Dec. 31, 2019.

“The common misconception has been that Latinos don’t give,” the study said. “The fact is that Latinos give to the church, faith based organizations like Habitat for Humanity, relief service organizations like the American Red Cross during times of need, and they send money back home to help support families in need.”