Campaign On This gave you a quick bio and campaign finance background on Republicans Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, Mike Huckabee and Lindsey Graham, who are seeking the nomination for president in 2016. Now there is competition for Hillary Clinton as well. Bernie Sanders, an Independent senator from South Vermont, has officially announced that he is seeking the Democratic nomination for president.
Senator Sanders served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1991–2007. He was then elected to the U.S. Senate and has served since 2007. Senator Sanders is currently assigned to multiple committees in the Senate, which include the Committee on the Budget (Ranking Member); the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs; the Committee on Environment and Public Works; the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources; and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.
Between 2009 and 2014, Sanders’ Campaign Committee raised $8,173,915 and spent a total of $3,770,071, leaving $4,445,604. His top five contributors were Communications Workers for America; UNITE HERE; National Education Association; The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees; and Service Employees International Union. The top five industries that donated to his cause were Retirees, Democratic/Liberals, Public Section Unions, Lawyers/Law Firms and Health Professionals. The breakdown of his fund sources consists of Individual Contributions (93%), PAC Contributions (6%) and Other (1%). Interestingly, Senator Sanders’ self-financing is listed at 0%. Individual Contributions make up a large portion of these funds and are broken down into two categories: Small Individual Contributions (61%) and Large Individual Contributions (32%). The charts below provide a closer look at these numbers.
What are your thoughts on where the fundraising money was contributed? Did any of this data surprise you, especially since Senator Sanders did not self-finance himself at all? How does he compare to Hillary Clinton, who is also seeking the Democratic nomination for president?
