After a double-digit loss to Hillary Clinton in New York’s primary Tuesday, Bernie Sanders looked to push out any good news he had, announcing that his campaign had outraised Clinton’s for the third straight month, bringing in more than $46 million in March.
While Sanders’ path to the nomination is now virtually closed, the Vermont senator’s seemingly unending ability to raise money means he will be able to forge on in upcoming contests.
“We’re honored to have the strong support of 2.2 million passionate donors who have given more than 7 million times,” campaign manager Jeff Weaver said Wednesday. “It’s because of them that our campaign can take on the establishment.”
Though Sanders’ fundraising apparatus has often bested Clinton’s, he also frequently outpaces her in spending on races. Sanders basically spent all that he raised last month, putting $46 million into a number of races, including New York’s.
In the Empire State, for example, Sanders sunk more than $5 million into advertising, outspending Clinton 2-to-1.
Though Clinton raised $30.1 million in March, her campaign has been more financially restrained and has $30.8 million in the bank, according to The Washington Post. The Sanders campaign announced $17 million in cash on hand Wednesday.
With Sanders lagging in polls in a number of upcoming contests, the campaign will need to continue its fundraising success if it is to have the money to get his message out.
Sanders is campaigning aggressively in Pennsylvania this week ahead of the state’s delegate-rich primary Tuesday, even while polls consistently show Clinton with a double-digit lead there.
Also voting Tuesday are Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland and Rhode Island. A total of 462 delegates are up for grabs Tuesday, and Sanders needs to win a vast majority of them if he hopes to catch up to Clinton, who now has roughly 240 more delegates than Sanders.
Many analysts agree that Sanders must repeatedly post wins of around 60 percent should he hope to catch up in delegates before the convention in July.
Though most of the headlines over the past few days have cast doubt on Sanders’ strengths as a candidate, he received a gift from Vice President Joe Biden, who praised the democratic socialist in an interview with The New York Times.
“I like the idea of saying, ‘We can do much more,’ because we can,” Biden said. “I don’t think any Democrat’s ever won saying, ‘We can’t think that big — we ought to really downsize here because it’s not realistic.’”
