Bernie Sanders Had His Biggest Fundraising Day Yet After Iowa

On Tuesday, it was official: Sen. Bernie Sanders had lost the Iowa caucuses to Hillary Clinton. But the day also marked an occasion for some celebration — the unlikely presidential candidate had his best fundraising day since he launched his campaign last summer.

In the 24 hours following Monday night's caucuses, the Sanders campaign hauled in $3 million, according to the Washington Post. "It's been our best day ever," Sanders' communication director Michael Briggs told the paper.

Sanders' campaign is awash in money. In January he raked in an impressive $20 million, and his total number of individual donations hit around 3.2 million — the most any candidate has ever received by that point in a presidential campaign. It was the latest record of that kind that he set — in December, Sanders attracted a historic 2 million donations, double the number that Obama had received by that point in the race in 2008. 

In the last two quarters of 2015, Sanders trailed behind Clinton by just a few million dollars, despite the fact that he lacks the blessing of the Democratic Party establishment and is shunned by Wall Street. Instead, his war chest has overflown with small donations. Sanders' donors have given an average of $29 each over the past year, according to his campaign.

Clinton remains a fundraising juggernaut — she raised $37 million in the final quarter of 2015 and surpassed her ambitious targets set earlier in the year. Her donor pools looks rather different, as she has vigorously sought money from the financial sector. As of the end of 2015, over 7% of the funds behind Clinton had come from Wall Street, if you include the super PACs she's coordinating with.

Should Sanders make a decent showing in the upcoming nomination contests, the money he's been pulling in will be crucial for winning the race.