The Vermont senator's campaign raised $2.6 million between the times polls closed in New Hampshire on Tuesday night and 12:30 a.m. | AP Photo Sanders camp boasts about breaking own fundraising record after New Hampshire win

MANCHESTER, N.H. — The Bernie Sanders fundraising bump that Hillary Clinton's allies have been worried about for months is real.

The Vermont senator's campaign raised $5.2 million in the 18 hours since the polls closed in New Hampshire on Tuesday night, a haul guaranteed to worry the frontrunner's team nearly as much as the wide final margin here.


After Sanders urged backers to visit his website and donate during his victory speech, the Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue even started experiencing delays due to the overwhelming response.

The campaign said the $5.2 million haul crushed its own previous record for amount of funds raised in less than one day.

Sanders' online fundraising prowess, which has for months matched Clinton's high-dollar machine, recently came into the center of the national political spotlight after he outraised Clinton $20 million to $15 million in January.

And his campaign has also used that money to invest in what's looking like a prolonged race: it reserved air time on Tuesday in four Super Tuesday states.