As early voting in Florida’s presidential primary got underway Saturday, Democrats on Indian River County’s barrier island had already indicated their preferred candidate, overwhelmingly backing establishment standard-bearer Joe Biden over democratic socialist Bernie Sanders.
Biden’s campaign had received $29,595 in donations from 25 island residents as of Saturday, Federal Elections Commission records show.
Sanders’ campaign, by contrast, had collected donations totaling $1,293 from four island residents.
Meanwhile, President Donald J. Trump’s campaign received $107,550 in contributions from 124 residents in the 32963 ZIP code, more than the top 10 Democratic presidential candidates combined.
Among the Democratic candidates, only self-funded billionaires Michael Bloomberg and Tom Steyer – who both got nothing – and Andrew Yang, who got $312, received less support from barrier island contributors than Sanders.
Sanders’ fellow progressive, Elizabeth Warren, also received scant backing from the barrier island, collecting $2,945 from five donors before ending her campaign.
Biden’s fellow moderate, Pete Buttigieg, fared much better, collecting $26,381 from 27 island residents before dropping out of the race and endorsing Biden, records show.
Indian River County has 119,235 registered voters, but only the 54,934 registered Republicans and 33,332 registered Democrats can vote in their party’s presidential primaries.
