N.H. victory drives fundraising surge for Bernie Sanders

MANCHESTER, N.H., Feb. 10 (UPI) -- While Sen. Bernie Sanders delivered his victory speech Tuesday night in New Hampshire, his website crashed under a deluge of campaign contributions.

ActBlue, the fundraising service used by Democrats, tweeted late Tuesday that the service was experiencing problems due to the unexpected crush of donations. Politico reported that by 12:30 a.m. EST Wednesday, the Sanders campaign had hauled in $2.6 million since the polls closed just a few hours earlier.

"I'm not going to New York City to host a fundraiser on Wall Street. Instead I'm going to hold a fundraiser right here, right now, across America. My request is please go to BernieSanders.com and contribute," the Vermont senator told raucous supporters on Tuesday night. And they listened.

The surge is further sign of momentum from the grass-roots campaign, which had its best fundraising day in the 24 hours following the Iowa caucuses, bringing in $3 million.

Sanders' fundraising machine is starting to outpace that of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Sanders out-raised her in January, however Clinton is able to fall back on an extensive donor network she and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, have cultivated over the years.

On Tuesday, Sanders' campaign made ad buys in four Super Tuesday states, with ads expected to air in Minnesota, Oklahoma, Massachusetts and Colorado on Wednesday. Super Tuesday, when the most primary delegates are up for grabs, is March 1.