Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders Almost Even in Quarterly Fundraising
In total, however, Hillary Clinton is well ahead with $75 million.
— -- As Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders inch closer together in the polls, so it seems do their fundraising numbers.
Clinton raised roughly $28 million in the second quarter of her presidential campaign, a Clinton campaign official familiar with Federal Election Commission filings said. This figure, while strong, is just slightly ahead of her Democratic opponent, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who raised about $26 million during the same period, which ended Wednesday.
Sanders' fundraising efforts were aided by a last-minute texting and email push, campaign spokesperson Michael Briggs said after the fundraising deadline had passed.
"As of midnight, we raised $2.07 million online on Sept 30. That's a record day for us," Briggs said.
The funding total is a significant bump for Sanders, who raised $13.6 million in the previous quarter. (Clinton, in contrast, raised $47.6 million in the previous quarter.)
Although Clinton’s fundraising number this quarter is significantly less, she has now raised a total of roughly $75 million since the start of her campaign – a number that puts her campaign well on its way to hit the goal of $100 million by the end of 2015. Sanders has raised a total of about $39 million.
These figures, released late Wednesday, come after a tough summer for Clinton, who has seen sliding poll numbers partly because of the controversy about her use of a private email server while secretary of state.
Sanders, however, has seen a rise in support. While Clinton is still leading Sanders in national polls, a recent CNN/WMUR/UNH poll showed the ultra-liberal Vermont senator with a 16-point lead on Clinton in the key early voting state of New Hampshire.
Meanwhile, Clinton has continued to raise money at a feverish pace. In the past three months, she has held more than 60 fundraisers across the country and Puerto Rico.
Her campaign, which says 93 percent of its donations were from small-dollar donors who gave $100 or less, remains confident and happy with the fundraising efforts.
"We are thrilled and grateful for the support of hundreds of thousands of donors across the country, helping us raise a record $75 million in the first two quarters,” Clinton’s campaign manager Robby Mook said in a statement. “Thanks to our supporters, we are able to meet our goals and build an organization that can mobilize millions of voters to ensure Hillary Clinton is their fighter in the White House."
In 2008, Obama did not meet the 1 million mark for individual contributions until February 2008, and he raised less than Sanders (only $20 million) in this same quarter in 2007, the Associated Press reported in October 2007.