Sanders’ April fundraising falls short of previous months

Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders said he raised $25.8 million in April, well shy of his eye-popping totals of recent months.

The figure comes as Sanders' chances of defeating Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination have dwindled. His loss to her in the New York primary April 19 widely viewed as a turning point in the race.

Sanders' take, raised almost entirely online, fell about $20 million short of the $46 million he posted in March. His haul still was sizable by some measures: Clinton reported having raised about $27 million in March, not much more than Sanders' take in April.

But Sanders has emerged as the biggest-spending candidate in the race, and his April total is not enough to maintain his pace of spending on television ads and other facets of the race.

Last week, the campaign announced that it was shedding 225 staffers to 'right-size” its personnel heading into the final nominating contests, including Indiana on Tuesday.

The lower haul also comes as Sanders is ramping up to compete against Clinton in California, where there are multiple media markets and the cost of television advertising is very expensive.

Sanders has said in recent days that he remains in the race with the intent of winning but that he is also maneuvering to make the Democratic platform as progressive as possible at the July convention in Philadelphia.