Is Sanders' Fundraising High Enough to Stay in the Race?

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders isn’t running out of money anytime soon. His campaign raised more than $42 million in the month of February alone, the most raised in a single month by any candidate running for president in 2016, according to a campaign statement.

“Working Americans chipping in a few dollars every week are changing the way campaigns in our country are financed,” said Jeff Weaver, Sanders’ campaign manager. “Not only are we going to smash Secretary Clinton’s personal goal of raising $50 million in the first quarter of 2016, our supporters are putting Bernie on the path to win the nomination.”

Winning the nomination won’t be easy; With 865 delegates on the line for Democrats on Super Tuesday, Sanders must continue to garner supporters to secure state wins. According to data of poll averages from Real Clear Politics, Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton is poised to win 10 out of the 11 states included in Super Tuesday. Two states, Oklahoma and Massachusetts, are a close toss-up, leaving Sanders with a certain win in his home state of Vermont.

“There are still many states, many delegates out there and more on March 15. There is a lot of enthusiasm around Sanders’ campaign. Obviously to be able to raise all that money in one month with average increments of $30, it just shows he has been able to build a lot of support,” said Penny Lee, Democratic strategist and senior adviser to Venn Strategies, LLC.

Lee says with the amount of resources Sanders has coming in and momentum he’s been gaining, he will be able to stay in the race for the long haul. With a win in New Hampshire and a close race in Iowa, she says Sanders must continue to build upon that success.

“Sanders needs to win some states, but we in the Democratic Party allocate our delegates based on the percentages of which you perform. So, he could keep the race going for the delegates for a long time if he keeps close to Hillary or wins the states.”

Lee, who is backing Clinton and has donated to her campaign, says there is no way to truly predict who the nominee will be in the end.

“Nothing is assumed and it’s not over until it’s over. He [Sanders] has a legitimate fight left for every delegate,” she added.

In hypothetical matchups with the top three Republican contenders, Sanders beats businessman Donald Trump 55-43, Texas Senator Ted Cruz 57-50 and Florida Senator Marco Rubio  53-45, according to a new CNN poll. Clinton doesn’t do as well against the GOP field, winning 52-44 over Trump but losing to Rubio 50-47 and Cruz 49-48.