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TechApple

Google, Apple Employees Love Bernie Sanders

By
Don Reisinger
Don Reisinger
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By
Don Reisinger
Don Reisinger
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April 20, 2016, 2:58 PM ET
Democratic Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders Campaigns At Pennsylvania's AFL-CIO Convention
Photograph by William Thomas Cain—Getty Images

The California primary is still a month-and-a-half away, but at least in Silicon Valley, it’s clear which presidential candidate many people support.

Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders is a favorite among employees at some of Silicon Valley’s top companies, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. So far, Sanders has raised more than $250,000 from employees at Google’s parent Alphabet (GOOGL), nearly $100,000 from workers at Microsoft (MSFT), and more than $85,000 from those at Apple (AAPL), the group’s data shows.

The University of California is the only non-Silicon Valley giant among the top five biggest Sanders contributors.

Employees at several other Silicon Valley elites, including Amazon (AMZN) in the fifth position with $63,ooo and Intel (INTC) in eleventh place with $42,000, are also among his top donors.

Sanders’ support from major tech company employees stands in stark contrast to, well, everyone else in the running. Neither Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump nor Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton have a Silicon Valley heavyweight among their top employee donors. The same holds true for the other candidates still in the race.

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Bernie Sanders, who lost by a big margin in the New York primary on Tuesday, has previously caught fire in Silicon Valley. The Federal Election Commission reported in February that Sanders raised nearly $105,000 from employees working at the five largest technology companies in Silicon Valley in the fourth quarter of 2015. Over the same period, Clinton pulled in $95,000 from workers at those same companies.

While it was the first quarter Sanders raised more from Silicon Valley companies than Clinton, the latest data suggests he remains a popular figure.

For his part, Sanders has bragged about his campaign’s ability to raise millions of dollars through small donations. The Center for Responsive Politics, which based its report on FEC campaign filings, did not provide any insight into how much individual employees at the Silicon Valley companies donated.

Regardless, the data, which was earlier reported on by Apple-tracking site 9to5Mac, provides some insight into the feelings tech company workers might have about this year’s election. While the companies themselves cannot contribute unless they use political action committees, individuals are limited to giving a maximum of $2,700.

For more about Apple, watch:

Still, it all might be for nothing. Clinton has 1,930 delegates, putting her near the 2,383 threshold needed to win the Democratic nomination. Sanders, who has promised to stay in the race until the end, has 1,189 delegates. There are just 1,646 delegates at stake in the remaining election contests, making it difficult for Sanders to catch up.

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By Don Reisinger
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