Bernie Sanders famously rejected the big donor model of campaign financing. I personally donated my small dollars to help him to do so. Going forward, a key question becomes: Can the socialist Senators’ model be reproduced by other candidates?

The first real test is the special election to fill an empty seat in California’s Congressional delegation. More than 20 candidates are hoping to either win outright or to make it to the runoff election. As of the filing deadline of 3/23, I was able to identify 15 candidates whose finances were available on the Federal Election Commission’s website. It will take some time for the F.E.C. to fully process and release all of the data, but here’s a snapshot:

The F.E.C. separates “itemized” contributions (more than $200) from “unitemized” contributions (less than $200). To take a stab at identifying the candidate who is closest to the Sanders small donor model, we can chart the percent of the money raised that comes from unitemized contributions, i.e., small donors.

That distinction goes to Kenneth Mejia: 90% of his contributions come in the form of less than $200. On the opposite side of the campaign financing spectrum, Robert Lee Ahn did not report a single dollar from small donors.

Mejia’s CrowdPac suggests that more than a thousand people have contributed less than $200 to the total of $35,682, which pales in comparison to the $327,602 in contributions from 336 unique contributors to Ahn. Indeed, Ahn has raised far more than the other candidates.

To grasp just how different these populations of donors are, consider: There are 15 donors on Ahn’s list who have the title of “C.E.O.” Meanwhile, one of Mejia’s most prolific donors is a man who has donated five times in small amounts: $26, $26, $26, $26, and $34. His occupation is listed as “Laborer.”

This is the only Congressional District in L.A. that voted for the socialist Senator against the neoliberal Clinton. Could the unthinkable happen? Could it elect the self-described “revolutionary” eco-socialist Mejia over the moneyed candidates led by Ahn, who appears to be the C.E.O.’s candidate? While Mejia has over 20,000 followers on Facebook and hundreds of volunteers, Ahn and other big money candidates have the resources for paid operatives, mailers, and TV ads.

The outcome of this special election will suggest the potential for a new generation of progressive candidates to replicate the Sanders model. For those who supported Bernie Sanders, here are some words of encouragement from the Senator:

“All over this country you have a lot of bright, decent, good people and they’re saying ‘you know what? The situation is hopeless. You can’t beat the Koch brothers. You can’t beat the billionaires. You can’t win. I’m giving up’…That is EXACTLY what they want us to believe, and I beg of you! Do not enter that world of despair.”