Sanders campaign raised $34.5M in fourth quarter

Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) campaign said Thursday that the Democratic presidential hopeful raked in more than $34.5 million in fundraising during the fourth quarter, putting the senator in a strong position ahead of the first nominating contests next month. 

The haul is the largest fundraising quarter of the 2020 Democratic primary so far. 

Additionally, the campaign said it received more than 1.8 million donations in the final quarter of the year.

Sanders raised $18 million in the month of December alone and brought in contributions from 40,000 new donors on the final day of the fourth quarter, according to his campaign. 

The latest haul is roughly $9 million more than his third-quarter fundraising haul of $25.3 million.  

The senator’s latest numbers come as he gears up to face off against his Democratic rivals in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary in February. National polls consistently show Sanders in second place behind former Vice President Joe Biden, according to a RealClearPolitics average. 

Sanders’s campaign manager, Faiz Shakir, highlighted the campaign’s grassroots fundraising strategy in a statement Thursday. 

“You build a grassroots movement to beat Donald Trump and create a political revolution one $18 donation at a time, and that’s exactly why Bernie is going to win,” Shakir said. 

The news comes after former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s (D) campaign announced on Wednesday that he brought in more than $24.7 million in the fourth quarter, exceeding his third-quarter haul of $19.2 million. 

Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) have yet to release their fourth-quarter numbers. However, Warren released a statement in late December urging supporters to give to her campaign. The Massachusetts senator noted that she had raised $17 million, a “good chunk” behind what her campaign had raised in the previous quarter.

Businessman Andrew Yang’s campaign announced on New Year’s Eve that it had raked in $4 million during the last week of December.