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On his second day canvassing for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders' rally in Portland, Dan McIntosh-Tolle started warning people: Get to the Moda Center an hour early if you want a seat.
âHis beliefs just really resonate here,â says McIntosh-Tolle, a brewer who, for the past two weeks, has volunteered for Sandersâ presidential campaign. âPlus, we really love the underdog.â
He guessed right. An estimated 28,000 people arrived Aug. 9 at the Rose Quarter—9,000 more than could fit into the arena. Thousands stood outside to listen on speakers as the democratic socialist from Vermont pledged to take from the rich and give to the workers.
âThey have unlimited sums of money,â Sanders said. âBut we have something they do not have. We have a united people.ââ¯
But Sanders didn't just draw his largest national turnout in Portland. He's found something else in Oregon: money.
Federal Election Commission filings show Oregonians have donated $78,123 to Sanders' campaign. That's more money than he's raised in all but nine other states.
Sanders hasn't matched the fundraising prowess of Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton, who has raised $118,419 in Oregon. But his economic inequality here is far smaller than it is nationally, where she's outraised him $47.1 million to $15.1 million.
And Sanders—whose war chest depends far more on small donations than Clinton's does—actually has more Oregon donors than Clinton: 205 to her 152.
The federal filings cover money raised through June 30, meaning they don't count what Clinton raised from her $2,700-a-plate appearance Aug. 5 at the Southwest Portland home of Democratic Party power players Carol Butler and Win McCormack. ($2,700 is the maximum amount federal law allows an individual to donate to a presidential campaign.)
But the data does reveal pockets of strength for each candidate. Clinton's base is in the Portland metro area, while Sanders has actually raised more money than her in and around Eugene. Both are gathering support from the state's newest class of political donors: marijuana entrepreneurs. And neither has gathered money with the efficiency of Jeb Bush. The Republican scion has just 36 donors in Oregon, but has raised nearly as much money as Sanders: $71,300.
WW dove into the federal filings, and identified five noteworthy donors giving large sums to each candidate.
Randall Quast $1,000
Former real-estate broker, treasurer for Portland's chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.
Robert H. Adams $1,000
Astoria art photographer who won a MacArthur âgeniusâ grant for his shots of landscapes ruined by industry.
Dianne Lobes $1,000
Eugene therapist who offers âMaking Conscious Choicesâ workshops.
John Sherman $1,000
Portland financial planner and co-founder of Wilderness Volunteers, active in the preservation of Forest Park.
Michael Gibbons $500
Co-owner of the Papa Haydn restaurants, famed for their desserts.
Leanne Dilorenzo $2,700
Chairwoman and funder of the successful 2014 Equal Rights Amendment to the Oregon Constitution.
Beau Whitney $2,700
Portland economist-turned-chief operating officer of Greenpoint Oregon, a medical marijuana company.
Noah Stokes $2,700
Founder and CEO of CannaGuard, a Lake Oswego firm that installs security cameras for marijuana companies.
Jane Paulson $2,700
Portland personal-injury trial lawyer.
Gordon Sondland $2,700
Portland hotelier fighting to stop an Oregon Convention Center Hyatt.
Peter W. Stott $2,700
Real-estate investor and sponsor of Portland State University's sports arena.
Charles J. âButchâ Swindells $2,700
Portland financier named U.S. ambassador to New Zealand by President George H.W. Bush.
John P. Bishop $2,700
Vice president of Pendleton Woolen Mills.
Lizzy Acker, Hart Hornor and Claire Holley contributed reporting to this story.
WWeek 2015