Bernie Sanders leads Hillary Clinton in campaign donations from Sonoma County

Election Day in California is still more than two months away, but there is little doubt which way Sonoma County donors are leaning in the Democratic primary race between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

As of Jan. 31, Sanders had raised nearly 50 percent more money than Clinton in Sonoma County and attracted four times the number of individual donations, according to a Press Democrat analysis of campaign finance reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.

'If we held the election today, he'd win Sonoma County,' said David McCuan, a political science professor at Sonoma State University. 'It's not just Bernie country. It's rabid Bernie country.'

The same trend holds true in both Mendocino and Lake counties, though on a much smaller scale.

But there is a marked difference between the preferences of Sonoma County Democrats and their counterparts in neighboring Marin and Napa counties.

Clinton is the clear favorite of donors in Marin and Napa, where residents pumped more than $960,000 into her campaign. Sanders, on the other hand, received just under $241,000 from donors in those counties.

The reverse occurred in Sonoma County, where Sanders raised $197,700 and Clinton collected $132,300. Sanders also out-raised Clinton in Mendocino and Lake counties, where he garnered $46,400 and she took in just $18,300.

The analysis was based on campaign donations made by North Coast residents from September 2014 through Jan. 31 this year.

Overall, Sanders attracted more than twice as many individual donations in the five-county region, although for much smaller amounts than Clinton. He received 5,808 donations, for an average of $84. Clinton received just 2,340 donations, but each one averaged $475.

'It's consistent with what we're seeing nationally,' McCuan said.

In Napa, he said, when Clinton holds her events they're overwhelmingly at exclusive wineries like Hall Wines, owned by Kathryn Hall, who was appointed ambassador to Austria while Bill Clinton was president, or at other exclusive enclaves like House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's Napa home.

Sanders' North Bay money is coming from different kinds of voters, McCuan said.

Sean Baskerville, 36, of Santa Rosa is an ardent Sanders supporter and has donated to his campaign nine times so far, totaling $1,145.

'I'm going to be in it until the bitter end,' he said.

Baskerville, a senior technical support specialist for a software company, grew up poor.

'My parents aren't a social safety net for me,' he said. 'In fact, they kind of rely on me sometimes, so if something were to happen to me, I'd be basically out in the street.'

His wife, Isabel Johnson, 27, is going through school right now, an added expense.

'I have, you know, credit cards I could live off of, but you just feel vulnerable,' Baskerville said. '(Sanders) represents a future where there is somewhat of a safety net. Where if you lose your job, you're not going to be out in the street. That's the future that I want to live in.'

Sanders supporters, McCuan said, believe in the issues, not necessarily who serves as the face of those issues.

'Bernie has this mass appeal, an activist appeal,' McCuan said. 'It doesn't matter if the candidate is Bernie or Elizabeth Warren. They would be giving money regardless.'

But much can change between now and June 7, when Californians will actually go to the ballot box, McCuan noted. Sanders' performance in the primary election will hinge in large part upon whether Clinton has locked up the nomination before then, and if so, by what margin.

Maxene Spellman of Petaluma is a Clinton donor.

'I love Bernie, too, so it was a hard pick, actually, but I like that she's determined to continue and enhance the Obama legacy,' Spellman said. 'I think she's the more practical one, with more experience in getting things done.'

Spellman, 65, is retired, but used to work for the California State Coastal Conservancy. She has given the Clinton campaign $600 so far.

'(Clinton) is so smart and so knowledgeable,' she said. 'She's really good at working with constituents and the Congress. She's a good compromiser. And I think that's how our government works. If you can't compromise, nothing gets done.'

Shirlee Zane, 56, a Sonoma County supervisor, gave Clinton $250 in October.

'She is the most qualified person for the job, clearly. Hands down,' Zane said. 'Plus I think we're also a little overdue for our first woman president. ... I hear some people say she's not really likable, and is that really an issue? Who cares if she's likable? The point is, will she be a good president? Does she have the qualifications? And, resoundingly, she does.'

For Mary Reder, 73, a retired Sonoma County librarian, the issue is trust.

'Over the years, things have become so jaded,' said Reder, a Sanders supporter. 'Politics doesn't have the transparency you'd like it to have.'

And Clinton, Reder said, is definitely lacking in that area. And while she's given once or twice before to candidates, she said, donating to Sanders' campaign is different for her.

'He's not getting money from the multinational groups, from the corporations, the big interests, the pharmaceuticals. You name it. He's not getting money there, and that's one reason I'm supporting him. It's a very big deal, and I'm willing to give up to the max (amount allowed).

'In the past, I've voted for a lot of people and held my nose, and said, 'OK, the other person doesn't have a chance in hell of winning the election,'' she said. 'But from this point on, I'm old enough, the hell with it. I'm going to vote according to integrity, honesty and the principles that I believe in.'

Baskerville, the tech support specialist, feels some of that spirit, too.

'I voted for Obama,' he said. 'I think I maybe gave him 50 bucks, but that's different than almost $2,000. It's different this time. I feel that (Clinton's) really just running because she feels it's her turn. Maybe she thinks she can make a difference; I don't know, but it seems like she's not running for the same reasons Bernie's running.'

You can reach Staff Writer Christi Warren at 521-5205 or christi.warren@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @SeaWarren.

Editor's note: This article has been updated to correct Shirlee Zane's age.