Congressman Peter Welch and Sen. Bernie Sanders at a press conference Monday morning at Burlington International Airport Credit: File

In the weeks following his reelection last year, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) continued to fundraise at a brisk pace, according to a new filing with the Federal Election Commission.

Between November 27 and the end of December, Sanders collected close to $560,000 and spent nearly $250,000. He finished 2018 with roughly $9.1 million in his Senate campaign account.

Sanders, who is reportedly close to announcing a second run for president, could legally transfer the funds to a presidential campaign committee. A separate, mostly dormant account affiliated with his 2016 campaign had more than $4.7 million in it at the end of the year, according to another FEC filing. A third account under Sanders’ control, the Progressive Voters of America political action committee, reported $125,000 in the bank.

Sanders’ latest Senate campaign report shows that he kept his reelection team of roughly a dozen people on payroll at least through the end of the year. That included several people who are expected to play a role in a potential 2020 presidential bid: 2016 campaign manager Jeff Weaver, spokesperson Arianna Jones, Senate campaign manager Shannon Jackson and senior adviser Joshua Orton. (CNN reported last month that Weaver would not reprise his role as campaign manager but would likely serve in another capacity.)

The senator also paid a Des Moines political consulting firm $2,500 in December, according to the filing. The company, PAD Consulting, is run by Pete D’Alessandro, who was Sanders’ Iowa campaign coordinator in 2016. D’Alessandro did not immediately respond to a request for comment about his current role.

Vermont’s two other members of Congress raised comparatively little at the end of 2018, according to their reports filed with the FEC.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), who does not face reelection until 2022, took in about $113,000 from October through December — roughly 40 percent of which came from special-interest groups. Vermont’s senior senator accepted money from PACs affiliated with Airbus, AT&T, the National Cannabis Industry Association, Raytheon, Space Exploration Technologies, T-Mobile, Vail Resorts and Verizon.

Leahy’s Senate reelection campaign account had close to $1.7 million at the end of the year. Green Mountain PAC, which he also controls, had roughly $57,000.

Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), who won a seventh term last November, raised just $642 in the final month of 2018. His campaign account reported $2.1 million in the bank, while his political action committee, Maple PAC, had roughly $20,000.

Disclosure: Paul Heintz worked as Peter Welch’s communications director from November 2008 to March 2011.

Related Stories

Got something to say?

Send a letter to the editor and we'll publish your feedback in print!

Paul Heintz was part of the Seven Days news team from 2012 to 2020. He served as political editor and wrote the "Fair Game" political column before becoming a staff writer.

13 replies on “Bernie Sanders’ Campaign Account Tops $9 Million”

  1. And he needed $9 million for his Senate reelection campaign why?

    *Get money out of politics except for me.*

  2. Donate the money to a good cause Bernie. Not your stupid ego campaign, but something to help the needy people you pretend to represent.

  3. I like to replace his “one percent” with a race of people. It really changes the tone of his rhetoric.

    CiTiZeNz UnItEd iS tHe BaD! But when it’s for me it’s just fine! You see, my group of individuals pooling resources to make speech is ok because of my opinion. It’s the correct opinion. But those evil one percenters, they have the bad opinion. Unless they agree with me.

  4. Have you notice how Socialist Sanders don’t run Millionaires down anymore..Now he is after Billionaires. because he isn’t worth billions .. yet..!!!. Also, he only paid his staff only $7.50 a hr..what happen to the $15. an hr he was pushing.?? This fool tells people what they should be doing, but he doesn’t have to do it..He talks out of his butt… He also did not donate his pay during the shutdown.. Let’s face the truth, the only reason he’s running for president is so he can be bought off again. just like the last election…

  5. Every day I’m amazed at how stupid some people are. In this case it’s those who continue to throw money at this clown. Although, it’s kudos to you Bernie; you’re running one of the greatest political scams the world has seen. People are smiling,cheering and stuffing your coiffures; it’s all for not but they don’t care!? Amazing.

  6. Even the most cursory glance at the lead-in headshot of Bernie’s thin mane of wispy white hair belies any claim by armchair practitioners of the tonsorial arts that Sanders acolytes are “smiling, cheering and stuffing [his] coiffures”. Love him or loathe him, Bernie sports perhaps the least “stuffed coiffures” in all of Congress. That kind of authentic unkemptness cannot be bought for any amount of money.

  7. Ha! I dont believe for a minute that Bernie*s Krazy Hair is authentic unkemptness! I dont believe that he doesnt know or care what his hair looks like. People have been commenting on it for decades, and were talking about a guy who*s obsessed with his image. He cares. His unkempt hair is pretend authentic. Its on purpose. His managed hairdo is yet another cult-of-personality vanity he shares with the orange-headed fake tan combover menace in the White House.

  8. I’m so glad Bernie continues to get his message out. The legislation he has reintroduced as a known politician is finally cosponsored by his colleagues, and new bills are shaping the Democratic party (even though he technically isn’t one). I’m glad to have him around, especially since his mere presence scares those who’ve been calling the shots for far too long!

    Let’s stop funding Saudi Arabia. They have spread radical conservative thought worldwide for far too long.

  9. Get ALL the money you possibly can Bernie ! Then I hope when you realize you can best serve the nation by not being president , you can disperse it in a way that maximizes the beat down of Trump and his toadies . Raise Bernie Raise !

  10. He is running a close second to Donald Trump in being a phony hypocrite. Loves the money! Hates the actual press! Refuses to show his taxes! Sells books instead of “brands”. How any Vermonter can feel good about not having a Senator for another 2 years while he woos the angry young men of the left is beyond my scope of understanding.

  11. So, Bernie felt he absolutely, positively had to deliver his OWN rebuttal to President Stoopid’s SOTU speech last night. Stacey Abrams’ response was not enough.

    “The Root, an Afrocentric progressive online magazine, ran a headline reading, “Hey, Bernie Sanders Can You STFU After the SOTU and Let Stacey Abrams Shine?””

    So, if the question is, can Bernie STFU and let someone else talk, the answer is, no. The answer has always been, no. Like Trump himself, it has to be about BERNIE! Bernie thinks HE has to be the one to speak. HE has to be the one to get attention. HE has to be the one to be listened to, worshipped, adored.

    https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/…

    He clearly does what he wants, not what anyone else wants or thinks. Certainly not what the Democratic Party wants. Yet he and his Angry Bros seemed to believe that in 2016 it was perfectly ok for him to crash the Democratic Party and demand that they nominate him?

    This crazy egomaniac is out of control.

  12. If Bernie has this much already, he needs to pay his overdue bills he incurred while campaigning in Calif in . He owes over $600,000 to Calif cities that protected him. If Bernie and his campaign don’t pay up, he will have to provide all his own protection for every visit he takes to Kamala’s state who won’t give him a good welcome. Being a deadbeat like trump has consequences. Bernie doesn’t pay his bills.

Comments are closed.