A study published on Thursday by Plus 3 shows that Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has received over four times the amount of campaign contributions from the Latino community than any other Democratic presidential candidate.
Specifically, The Hill reports that Sanders has received over $8.2 million from Latinos, which is $6 million more than the $2 million earned by his closest competitors, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg . All numbers were taken as of the last Federal Election Commission filing deadline of December 31, 2019.
Interestingly, the study found that Latino campaign contributions declined by 25 percent around the middle of 2019.
“Overall, $6.5 million dollars and 315,000 Latino contributions have in effect disappeared as the field of candidates has narrowed from 23 candidates to 5 leading candidates,” the study reads.
Both California and Texas have significant Latino populations and hold their primaries on Super Tuesday, which could help Sanders, as the Latino communities in both states donated more to Sanders than his closest competitors. Such votes could be especially crucial for Sanders, given the slim margin he took over Buttigieg in New Hampshire.
Overall, the study found that 1.7 million Latinos donated a total of $23.7 million to Democratic presidential candidates up until the end of last year.
“The common misconception has been that Latinos don’t give. The fact is that Latinos give to the church, faith based organizations like Habitat for Humanity, relief service organizations like the American Red Cross during times of need, and they send money back home to help support families in need.”
Sanders is winning non-white voters in this poll by 8 points over Biden https://t.co/Kq70BotWp9 pic.twitter.com/Hv9U89zA3p
— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) February 11, 2020
As Newsweek reported, new polls released Tuesday put Sanders ahead of the pack among non-white voters. He has also reportedly gained 10 points from African-American voters after reports that his support from this demographic declined following his highlight of comedian Joe Rogan ‘s endorsement.
According to a recent Monmouth University survey, Sanders has 28 percent support from African-American, non-white Hispanic, and Asian voters. In second was former Vice President Joe Biden with 20 percent support. A separate poll by Monmouth showed Sanders gaining 10 points of support from black voters for a total of 27 percent, up from 17 percent before the Iowa caucuses. Conversely, Biden’s support dropped to 35 percent within the same time period.
Despite Sanders’ rise and lead in support from the non-white communities critical for winning in 2020, he continues to receive pushback from many in the Democratic establishment. According to progressive commentator Krystal Ball , the party’s establishment would rather Donald Trump win than see a Sanders victory.
“They would rather have Bernie lose and have another crack at it after Donald Trump[‘s second term] than allow him to win and that’s where we are,” she said, per Fox News .