Sanders raises $1.5M in one day

Sen. Bernie Sanders raised (I-Vt.) more than $1.5 million in donations from 35,000 donors during the first day of his presidential candidacy, his campaign announced in a tweet Friday.

“With your help, we are off to a great start,” the tweet said.

With your help, we are off to a great start. In the last day we had over 100,000 join us, 35,000 donate, and raised more than $1.5 million.

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) May 1, 2015

{mosads}“In the last day we had over 100,000 join us, 35,000 donate, and raised more than $1.5 million.” 

That one day haul is more than the first-day hauls of any presidential candidate that’s released their data. The campaign for Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) told The Associated Press it raised $1.25 million on its first day; while Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) tweeted that he raised $1 million on day one, and a campaign aide to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) told CBS News that he also raised $1 million on his first day.

Sanders’s rival for the Democratic nomination, Hillary Clinton, did not announce her first-day fundraising total.

“It is a very impressive haul,” Sanders’ campaign aide Tad Devine said in an interview, noting Sanders has been successful in the social media space.

“That groundwork that he brings into this effort has really been one of the reasons he can succeed, on top of people liking him and liking what he said.”

Since campaign finance reform is one of Sanders’ key planks, he’s said he won’t solicit the help of a super PAC. 

Devine said he respects the decision of other candidates, including President Obama in 2012, not to “cede the ground” to opponents who are backed by super PACs.

But he added that while Sanders playing under a different set of rules than other presidential hopefuls, it’s important to drive home his message.

“He simply isn’t content with just denouncing the system. He feels compelled not to participate in it,” Devine said. “That is a political statement and one that voters will respect.”

– Updated at 3:56 p.m.