Bernie Sanders raises almost $6m in 24 hours from grassroots supporters - smashing Democratic rivals

Figure almost certainly a record for small donors

Bernie Sanders’ battle to become the president has received almost $6m in just 24 hours - apparently setting a new record and catapulting him high above his Democratic rivals.

The 77-year-old’s campaign said it had collected $5.9m in the first 24 hours of the Vermont senator declaring his plan to run again for the White House. The money came from 220,000 small donors, with Mr Sanders – as in 2016 – refusing money from corporate sources.

By contrast, the campaign of Kamala Harris raised $1.5m within the first 24 hours of her announcing she was running on January 21. It also broke Mr Sanders’ own efforts from 2016, when he gathered $1.5m in online donations on the first day of his bid to secure the Democratic nomination.

“The only way we will win this election and create a government and economy that work for all is with a grassroots movement – the likes of which has never been seen in American history,” Mr Sanders said of the donations.

“They may have the money and power. We have the people.”

But raising money is not the only challenge the former mayor of Burlington faces as he looks to nail down the Democratic nomination.

When he challenged Hillary Clinton in 2016, he was very much the outsider. In this cycle, he will start among the frontrunners.

While he may not part of the establishment overseen by the Democratic National Committee (DNC), many of his progressive ideas are now in the ascendancy among the party – especially with fellow progressive Elizabeth Warren also entering the race, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who worked for Mr Sanders’ 2016 campaign, being elected to congress.

Another factor Mr Sanders has to counter is his age. He he were to be elected president, the senator would be 79 when he assumed office, and 86 when he left, if he served two terms.

By contrast, Donald Trump – the man Mr Sanders is seeking to beat – is 72, while Joe Biden, the other septuagenarian among the top of polls for potential Democratic challengers, is 76. House speaker Nancy Pelosi is 78.

“We rarely elect oldsters: since 1828, only three Democratic presidents have been in their 60s when inaugurated — and none came close to Sanders, who would be 79 if elected in 2020,” wrote Axios Mike Allen.

“The average age of every previous Democratic president in history on inauguration day is 52.”