Bernie Sanders And The $17m

As i mentioned a few times before, i somehow found myself on Bernie Sanders election email list and i would receive daily updates of how it was going and on the bottom of each email was a big CONTRIBUTE button requesting a donation of $2.70.
Not being American i of course never donated a bean to him but many people must have done because according to the the New York Times, the 2020 Sanders campaign raised an impressive $214 million.
I say impressive, it is dwarfed by the $750 Barack Obama spent in 2008 White House bid and the $985 in 2012 and the $957M Donald Trump spent to win in 2016 but you have to feel for Hillary Clinton who spent an amazing $1.4 billion who then went and inexplicably lost to him.
As i never topped up Bernies coffers with my $2.70, approximately £2.20 in British money, despite him (possibly) getting a long-time missing light-bulb installed above my garage door , when he pulled out of the election in January to leave the floor to Joe Biden, it meant little to me although it did give me a chance to air my little joke that the biggest threat to both men left in the race, both being 70 plus, was Coronavirus and i went on about my business feeling proud of myself.
I did see the other day that Sanders campaign spent $197 million and even with my bad grasp of Mathematics and using the fingers on both hands and borrowing a few from a colleague, that $214 minus $197 means that he left the campaign $17m up.
Hey, what happens to...started an email to the New York Times who have come up with the answer and it's not they keep it as i half expected, they have to abide by Federal Election Commission (FEC) rules by either putting it towards their next race, use it to 'close' their campaign whatever that means or return it to the giver although as that option came with a little smiley emoji, i'm guessing that the option of just giving it back isn't the first choice.
I don't know what he has done with the spare $17m, i just hope that nobody checks his expenses sheet and sees 'light bulb acquisition $17m' on it because if it has, i'm glad i never asked him to chase up the missing recyling bin as well, especially as i never coughed up the $2.70 in the first place.