Election 2020: Sanders Hauls In $34.5M In Q4 Donations, But Trump Ahead With $46M

With 2020 officially off to a start, some Democratic nominee campaigns have released their year-end donor figures – and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is easily out front, although he trails far behind President Donald Trump.

By midnight of Dec. 31, Sanders’ campaign announced that they had raised more than $34.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2019, more than anyone else in the Democratic field. They also reported that $18 million was donated in December alone. Earlier this week, Sanders' campaign was estimated to have pulled in $26 million – already putting him in the top spot.

Former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg said his campaign brought in $24.7 million in 2019 fourth quarter. Entrepreneur Andrew Yang, the only other candidate to reveal financial records for this period so far, announced at least $12.5 million in new donations.

The campaign for former Vice President Joe Biden said earlier this week that it had already exceeded its record $21.5 million in donations for the fourth quarter, but an exact figure was not given. As for Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), her campaign was last asking supporters to help reach a goal of raising $20 million before the end of the year – not a great sign for the presidential hopeful, who took in nearly $25 million in donations in the previous quarter.

While Sanders certainly has something to boast about, he is still trailing President Donald Trump. Trump’s campaign announced a $46 million haul in the fourth quarter.

Although there is a large gap between Trump and Sanders, there’s a simple explanation for this: While Republican donors are largely unified behind Trump, Democrats have yet to pick their nominee for the White House. To put it in perspective, if the fourth quarter donations made to the top four Democratic campaigns were combined to finance a single candidate, he or she would have at least $100 million dollars in new donations. If anything, it is Trump who should be concerned by these donation figures, then.

The contest to be the Democrat Party’s presidential nominee is closing in on its final days, as the first states are set to primary in February. While Biden is out front in national polling, Sanders and Warren both best him in several states considered crucial to winning the primary.