[S]en. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign has brought in more money than every other announced 2020 Democratic hopeful so far. But the Vermont independent is still trailing President Donald Trump’s fundraising machine.
According to the first campaign finance filing of 2019, Sanders raised $18,186,300 in the first 41 days following his official announcement.
Though he has raised more than any of his competitors in the Democratic primary field, he is nowhere near the $35 million Trump raised since January. The Republican National Committee has also reported bringing in about $46 million since the beginning of the year.
“The President is in a vastly stronger position at this point than any previous incumbent president running for reelection, and only continues to build momentum,” Trump’s campaign manager, Brad Parscale, said in a statement to CNN.
The rest of the Democratic candidates for president are still well behind the fundraising efforts of both Sanders and Trump.
Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., is the closest to Sanders, having raised $12 million since the beginning of 2019. Rounding out the top five are former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke with $9 million; Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, with $7 million; and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., with $6 million.
Recent polls also have Sanders leading all other announced Democratic candidates by large margins, but still falling behind former Vice President Joe Biden — who has not officially announced he will be running.
The latest Morning Consult poll has Sanders at 23%, with Harris, O’Rourke, Buttigieg and Warren all behind him in the single digits. The poll does have Biden leading the field with 31%.
A national poll carried out by Emerson College, which was published Monday, has Sanders up by 5 points on Biden and 20 points up on his nearest announced competitor.
Sanders ended the first quarter of 2019 with more than $15 million in cash on hand and has also salaried campaign staffers working in the early nominating states of Iowa, New Hampshire, California, Nevada and South Carolina, according to the campaign finance documents.
As of the campaign finance filing deadline earlier this month, the Sanders camp has also staffed up in at least five other key states ahead of the 2020 primaries.
“These resources are going to allow us to compete on all levels in all of the Super Tuesday states,” Jeff Weaver, a senior adviser to the senator, told reporters earlier this month.
