Small donors Accounted for more than Three-Quarters of all Contributors to the Campaign of Bernie Sanders

Bernie Wracks Up Big Numbers from Small Donors, FEC Report Shows
 
WASHINGTON –Bernie Wracks Up Big Numbers from Small Donors, FEC Report Shows
 
WASHINGTON – Small donors accounted for more than three-quarters of all contributors to the campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, according to report filed on Wednesday with the Federal Election Commission.

Altogether, more than 76.5 percent of all contributions – totaling more than $10.5 million – came from individuals who donated less than $200.

“Our campaign is a strong grassroots movement supported by middle-class Americans from working families, not billionaires trying to buy elections,” Sanders said. “I am proud that we have more than 284,000 individual donors and that the average contribution was about $35,” he added.

In the report, the Sanders campaign disclosed that it raised more than $15.2 million during the two months since the senator from Vermont launched his campaign on April 30. There were 390,730 donations from 284,062 individuals whose average contribution was $35.18. The campaign spent $2.9 million during the reporting period and had almost $12.2 million cash on hand as of June 30.

“The current corrupt campaign finance system – created by the disastrous Supreme Court decision in Citizens United – now allows the super-wealthy to buy elections,” Sanders said.

The 2010 court ruling gutted laws limiting campaign funding. Without restrictions, the billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch, whose fossil-fuel fortune makes them the second richest family in America, plan to steer nearly $1 billion into campaigns in the coming election cycle. That’s more than the Republican and Democratic parties each are projected to spend. “That’s not democracy,” Sanders said. “That’s oligarchy.”

Sanders renewed his pledge to undo the decision with a constitutional amendment or by nominating Supreme Court justices committed to reverse the ruling.

, according to report filed on Wednesday with the Federal Election Commission.

Altogether, more than 76.5 percent of all contributions – totaling more than $10.5 million – came from individuals who donated less than $200.

“Our campaign is a strong grassroots movement supported by middle-class Americans from working families, not billionaires trying to buy elections,” Sanders said. “I am proud that we have more than 284,000 individual donors and that the average contribution was about $35,” he added.

In the report, the Sanders campaign disclosed that it raised more than $15.2 million during the two months since the senator from Vermont launched his campaign on April 30. There were 390,730 donations from 284,062 individuals whose average contribution was $35.18. The campaign spent $2.9 million during the reporting period and had almost $12.2 million cash on hand as of June 30.

“The current corrupt campaign finance system – created by the disastrous Supreme Court decision in Citizens United – now allows the super-wealthy to buy elections,” Sanders said.

The 2010 court ruling gutted laws limiting campaign funding. Without restrictions, the billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch, whose fossil-fuel fortune makes them the second richest family in America, plan to steer nearly $1 billion into campaigns in the coming election cycle. That’s more than the Republican and Democratic parties each are projected to spend. “That’s not democracy,” Sanders said. “That’s oligarchy.”

Sanders renewed his pledge to undo the decision with a constitutional amendment or by nominating Supreme Court justices committed to reverse the ruling.