Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign brought in $108 million in 2019, outdistancing the rest of the Democratic field other than the self-financed campaigns of billionaire candidates Michael Bloomberg and Tom Steyer.
While the Vermont senator was fundraising feverishly throughout the year, depending on small dollar donations, he was also actively spending — looking beyond the early contests to Super Tuesday states and buying online as well as traditional advertising.
Sanders ended the year with $18.2 million in cash on hand, after spending $50 million between October and December — the most of any candidate. In addition, the campaign reported recently that it raised $25 million in the first month of 2020 and that it was adding staffers to Super Tuesday states while pouring $5.5 million into ad buys.
The other candidates lag behind. Former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg had $14.5 million cash on hand, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., had $13.7 million and former Vice President Joe Biden had $9 million.
For the year, Warren raised $82 million, Buttigieg $76 million, Biden $61 million, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., brought in $29 million.
Bloomberg, who announced his candidacy in late November, has tapped his personal fortune for at least $300 million so far. Steyer spent $201 million of his own on ads in New Hampshire, South Carolina, Iowa and South Carolina.
After winning the New Hampshire primary and a top two finish in the Iowa caucuses, Sanders heads into the South Carolina primary, the Nevada caucuses and the all-important Super Tuesday events as the frontrunner. He also topped the most recent national poll.
The bulk of Sanders’ spending in 2019 went into digital and traditional television advertising.
In the last quarter of 2019, the campaign spent significantly on traditional media, paying $13.5 million to Denver-based BlueWest Media for media ad placements. Before October, the Sanders campaign had not used BlueWest Media, according to campaign finance filings.
In comparison, the Sanders campaign paid Aisle 518 Strategies, a political consulting firm started by Tim Tagaris — who was Sanders’ 2016 director of digital advertising — $13.3 million throughout all of 2019 for consulting on digital strategy and advertising and $6.3 million in the final quarter.
Other companies that received the most money from the Sanders campaign in 2019 include Apollo Jets, a private charter service based in New York; HaystaqDNA, a firm founded by the directors of data targeting and data analytics for Barack Obama’s 2008 White House bid; Tigereye Promotions, a company that specializes in printing and dispersing promotional products for Democratic candidates; and Solidarity Strategies, a consulting firm run by Chuck Rocha, a top Sanders adviser.
Those television and digital ads include expanding coverage in California and Texas — two delegate-rich states where Sanders has a strong base of support. The campaign said it is also targeting Arkansas, Colorado, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Utah.
In a recent interview, Matthew Dickinson, a professor of political science at Middlebury College, pointed to Sanders’ campaign strong fundraising skills and early wins make him the leader of the pack.
“Bernie has fabulous fundraising infrastructure which will allow him to possibly weather stormy seas ahead,” said Dickinson, adding this is not true for candidates like Biden and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., who have less robust fundraising efforts. Klobuchar, however, has raised millions since her third-place showing in New Hampshire.
Sanders has now turned his attention to the next two Democratic contests, the Nevada caucuses and the South Carolina primary. However, in addition to bulking up his presence online and on television in Super Tuesday states, he will visit Texas and North Carolina before traveling to Nevada.
“I think Bernie is well situated in the next two contests,” Dickinson said.
