AUGUSTA, Maine — Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders leads Democratic presidential candidates in fundraising from Maine ahead of the March 3 primary, raising nearly $400,000 more than any rival, according to a Bangor Daily News analysis of filings with the Federal Election Commission.

Sanders has raised $847,000 from Mainers since his campaign launched in early 2019, with the majority coming from donors who gave less than $200. Among Democratic candidates, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, were the next strongest, respectively raising $461,000 and $370,000 from Maine residents.





With the exception of former New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg, who is self-funding his campaign, all active Democratic presidential candidates raised more from small donors in Maine on ActBlue than they did from large donors in the state through the end of 2019.

Sanders dominated most areas of the state in fundraising, though Buttigieg did better in the Portland suburbs, including Yarmouth, Falmouth and Cape Elizabeth. Cumberland County — Maine’s largest and wealthiest — led the way in fundraising for the Democrats, with the top nine zip codes in terms of overall contributions.

Contribution totals through Jan. 31 for each candidate were calculated using figures reported by the campaigns, which are required to report the names and addresses of all donors who give more than $200, and the Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue, which reports all donors.

Sanders, who scored a decisive win in Maine’s presidential caucuses in 2016, was up in the only presidential poll in the state in 2020 released so far this year, leading with 25 percent of votes among likely primary voters in a survey released Tuesday by Colby College.

Buttigieg was in second place with 16 percent of the vote, followed by Bloomberg with 14 percent, former Vice President Joe Biden with 12 percent and Warren with 9 percent. Candidates need at least 15 percent of votes in the Maine primary to pick up any delegates.

Democrats will get only one choice in the presidential primary after Gov. Janet Mills delayed the effective date of a law expanding ranked-choice voting to presidential races. That voting method will be used in November unless the Maine Republican Party succeeds in a bid to put a question repealing the law on the 2020 ballot.