Bernie Sanders’ Fundraising Drops 44 Percent from March

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaks to a crowd gathered on April 18, 2
AFP

WASHINGTON (AP) — Bernie Sanders brought in about $26 million in April in his primary challenge to Hillary Clinton, marking one year on Sunday in his insurgent bid for the Democratic nomination.

Sanders’ fundraising total for the month was a steep decline from the $46 million he raised in March, raising questions about whether he can sustain his powerful online money machine as his path to the nomination has substantially narrowed against Clinton.

The Vermont senator was holding a news conference later Sunday to discuss his campaign and his plans to compete vigorously against Clinton in upcoming primaries in the spring, culminating in California’s June 7 primary and the final contest in the District of Columbia later that month.

Clinton’s campaign did not immediately report its fundraising totals in April. The former secretary of state entered April with $29 million in the bank compared to $17 million for Sanders.

Clinton holds a substantial lead among delegates and is 91 percent of the way to clinching the nomination when including superdelegates, the Democratic elected officials and leaders who can support the candidate of their choice.

Sanders announced earlier this week that he was laying off hundreds of staffers after losses last month in New York and several East coast primaries. The campaign said it was downsizing its staff because about 80 percent of the primaries and caucuses had been completed and the changes would allow it to focus heavily on California.

Sanders has vowed to campaign into the party’s convention in Philadelphia in July and seek as many delegates as possible to influence the party’s platform.

Sanders’ campaign did not report Sunday how much it spent in April or how much it had in the bank at the end of the month. The figures will be included in fundraising reports filed with the Federal Election Commission later in the month.

Sanders has now raised about $210 million since launching his campaign a year ago. The campaign said last month’s total far outpaces his average of $17 million raised per month.

“What our campaign is doing is bringing millions of Americans into the political process,” said Jeff Weaver, Sanders’ campaign manager, in a statement. He said Sanders was “the candidate with the best chance of winning in November.”

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