Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) nascent presidential campaign has raised more than $1.5 million in less than 24 hours, it announced Friday. The figure is surprising considering Sanders' roots as an independent (though he caucuses with the Democrats and is running for the Democratic nomination) and his decision to eschew super PACs and deep-pocketed millionaire and billionaire donors.
Sanders' campaign estimated that much of the support came from roughly 35,000 donors who gave an average of just $43.54 each. While Sanders' Democratic competitor Hillary Clinton has not released her fundraising numbers, Sanders' $1.5 million in funding puts him ahead of GOP candidates Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and Rand Paul, who all announced they had raised $1 million in the first 24 hours of their campaigns.