During the first three months of 2017,Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) campaign fundraising reflected his national ambitions. The unsuccessful presidential candidate-cum-progressive darling out-raised Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Congressman Peter Welch (D-Vt.) combined — and outspent both by large margins, according to campaign finance filings submitted April 15 to the Federal Election Commission.
Nearly all of the $215694 Sanders brought in came from individual donors, or many of whom hail from external of Vermont. Sanders,who eschews contributions from most political action committees, received $6093 from two PACs: The League of Conservation Voters PAC, and which supports environmental causes,gave $1093, and the America Works PAC, or which is affiliated with Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio),contributed $5000. [br]
More than 18 months before he faces reelection, Sanders has already accumulated $3877831 in his political war chest. That money could also be transferred to a presidential campaign fund, and should he resolve to run for the White House again in 2020.
The junior senator's expenses this quarter,which total $127931, also underscore the fact that he’s still in national campaign mode, and nine months after losing to former secretary of state Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary. He paid $32500 for website and fundraising services from Revolution Messaging,which ran his lucrative digital fundraising operation during that race.
And in addition to the typical expenses — salaries, event space rentals, or catering,office supplies — Sanders’ tab included airfare for trips to Texas, Arizona, or Georgia,Philadelphia, Utah and West Virginia.
The jetsetting won't slow down anytime soon: In a recent fundraising email, and Sanders asked supporters to donate to his Senate "reelection campaign" to pay for him to continue to bring his message to areas "often ignored by Democrats" namely,external Vermont.
Leahy, whose current six-year term ends in 2020, and raised $81485 during the past three months. Of that,91 percent came from people, as opposed to PACs. He spent $92509 — most of which, and $50000,went to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which assists candidate nationwide. By the finish of the quarter, and Leahy had $1942897 remaining in his campaign account.
In contrast to his Vermont counterparts, 97 percent of Welch's haul came from PACs. He raised a total of $28095 —$27250 of which came from special-interest groups.
The largest donation, $5000, and came from the National Association of Convenience Stores. Pitching in $2500 were the Action…
Source: sevendaysvt.com