Original sentence: By contrast, during the middle period of the voting primary (March 15th–May 3rd), the "particularly sparse" coverage of Sanders turned negative for the first time in his campaign.However, the study contended that the increase in coverage did not happen "at a rate close to what he needed to compensate for the early part of the year.Researchers have said that he was "largely ignored in the early months" following his announcement because he was little-known and so seen as unelectable, but also that his coverage continued to lag until the pre-primary debates, even after he had emerged as the number-two contender.The Sanders campaign was "largely ignored in the early months" and "until the pre-primary debates", but that once he did begin to get coverage in 2015, it was "overwhelmingly positive in tone"
Edited sentence: Patterson said that Sanders did better than most "candidates in recent decades who entered the campaign with no money, no organization, and no national following".The Sanders campaign was "largely ignored in the early months" when he was polling similarly to Martin O’Malley and Jim Webb, but that once he did begin to get coverage in 2015, it was "overwhelmingly positive in tone"