Story highlights The GOP establishment and the Clinton campaign assembled sophisticated money machines

But the sheer tonnage of money backing them wasn't enough to stop Trump

Washington (CNN) Before Election Day came, people had seen fit to donate just shy of $2 billion to candidates and political organizations trying to elect the next president of the United States.

Some candidates, like former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, assembled vast networks to finance their bids.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders tapped into the grassroots to fund massive campaigns based on small donors.

And then there was former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, on whose behalf donors gave more money than anyone else.

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