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That amount far surpasses what any of his rivals have disclosed raising after their own announcements this year.
Previously, Sen. Kamala Harris of California had claimed the biggest early fundraising haul that had been made public. Her campaign said it had raised $1.5 million online from more than 38,000 donors in the 24 hours after announcing her candidacy in January.
In comparison, Sanders’ campaign said its total fundraising in the first 24 hours came to $5.9 million.
Sanders’ early fundraising success is not unexpected: After all, he raised well over $200 million when he ran against Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, and his list of online donors dwarfs those of his rivals.
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But in a crowded presidential field, where candidates are eager to demonstrate the enthusiasm behind their campaigns, early fundraising hauls offer bragging rights, at least for a moment.
A recent New York Times analysis found that Sanders begins his 2020 candidacy with about 2.1 million online donors who have given money to him over the past six years, a massive lead among low-dollar contributors that is roughly equivalent to the donor base of all the other Democratic hopefuls combined.
Beto O’Rourke, the former Texas congressman who ran for Senate last year, has twice as many online donors as anyone eyeing the race besides Sanders. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Harris each have drawn money from at least 230,000 online donors ahead of their candidacies.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.