Topline
Vice President Kamala Harris’ entrance into the presidential election has blown up her fundraising race with former President Donald Trump and given Democrats a commanding lead, with a number of outlets reporting Wednesday the Harris marketing campaign has now raised greater than $1 billion.
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at an occasion hosted by The Economic Club of Pittsburgh at … [+]
Key Facts
The Biden—now Harris—marketing campaign committee raised $678.2 million and Trump’s marketing campaign committee raised $309.2 million in whole between January 2023 and Aug. 31, 2024, the latest date for which Federal Election Commission filings can be found.
Harris additionally ended August with far extra cash readily available than Trump—with $235.5 million to Trump’s $134.6 million—additional widening her money lead after erasing a earlier money benefit the Trump marketing campaign had on the finish of June, earlier than President Joe Biden dropped out of the race.
The Harris marketing campaign raised $189.6 million in August alone, whereas the Trump marketing campaign raised $44.5 million, after Harris shook up what was beforehand a extra evenly matched money race (Biden and Trump had raised $284.1 million and $217.2 million in whole as of the tip of June, respectively).
Harris’ fundraising reportedly continued to shoot up in September, as NBC News first reported Harris and affiliated committees have now raised greater than $1 billion since she entered the race, citing nameless sources, which incorporates $47 million the marketing campaign reported elevating in the 24 hours after Harris’ debate towards Trump on Sept. 10—her largest one-day haul since coming into the race—and profitable fundraisers in New York City and San Francisco final month that reportedly took in between $27 million and $28 million apiece.
The Harris marketing campaign has not but reported how a lot it raised in September in whole—with the New York Times reporting it doesn’t wish to “brag” about its large donations and make voters complacent—and has not commented on the $1 billion report, however its fundraising whole is prone to far exceed the $160 million the Trump marketing campaign reported taking in final month.
Harris shortly posted enormous fundraising numbers when she entered the race on July 21, along with her marketing campaign reporting $81 million in donations in the primary 24 hours after launching, and saying Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her vice presidential nominee has additionally fueled fundraising, with the marketing campaign reporting it raised $36 million in the 24 hours after the operating mate was introduced.
Biden’s marketing campaign committee was renamed for Harris when he dropped out and endorsed her, and although Trump has challenged that with the FEC, his problem isn’t anticipated to affect the election.
Many prime donors additionally bankroll impartial political teams like tremendous PACs, which aren’t beholden to the FEC’s $6,600-per-person restrict for direct marketing campaign donations—which is the place Trump nonetheless holds a bonus, a minimum of for now.
FEC filings by Aug. 21 present tremendous PACs have spent roughly $167 million supporting Harris for the reason that starting of July, whereas PACs have spent roughly $55.2 million supporting Trump throughout that very same interval.
FEC filings report the highest 10 tremendous PACs supporting Trump have collectively raised roughly $329.4 million for the reason that starting of the yr versus $256.6 million raised by the highest 10 PACs supporting Harris—although some PACs have solely reported their fundraising totals by the tip of final quarter on June 30, so pro-Harris PACs might have narrowed that hole by the point the subsequent quarterly totals are launched in October.
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Surprising Fact
Harris’ billion-dollar haul doubtless marks the quickest {that a} presidential candidate has hit the ten-figure mark, the Times studies, noting that whereas Biden and Trump each raised greater than $1 billion with their nationwide events in 2020, it was accomplished over a for much longer time period. Anonymous sources cited by the Times stated Harris raised the billion {dollars} in lower than 80 days.
How Do Harris’ Fundraising Surges Compare To Trump’s?
Harris’ fundraising surge after she first introduced her marketing campaign surpassed the Trump marketing campaign’s largest donation bumps. The Trump marketing campaign reported elevating $52.8 million in the 24 hours after he was convicted on 34 felony expenses in Manhattan in May, which led to the WinRed platform for small GOP donations quickly crashing from the site visitors. That was quickly surpassed by the $81 million Harris raised in the primary 24 hours of her marketing campaign.
What To Watch For
We gained’t know for positive how the 2 candidates’ fundraising matches up as of September till Oct. 20. That’s when the campaigns will submit their FEC filings for the way a lot they raised this month.
How Much Are The Parties Raising?
Democrats are additionally outraising Republicans on the get together degree, with FEC filings by July displaying the Democratic National Committee has raised $385.5 million this election cycle, whereas the Republican National Committee has raised $331.1 million. That comes at the same time as Republicans very barely outraised the Democratic Party final month, taking in $30.94 million and Democrats $30.9 million. Democrats nonetheless had extra cash going into August, nevertheless, holding $65.8 million to Republicans’ $30.9 million and erasing the GOP’s earlier money benefit it held on the finish of June. After being narrowly outraised by Republicans in July, Democrats got here again in August and raised $68.7 million to Republicans’ $40.4 million. The GOP nonetheless had extra cash readily available going into September, nevertheless, with $79.3 million versus Democrats’ $50 million money pile.
How Much Are Harris And Trump Spending?
The Biden—now Harris—marketing campaign has traditionally spent its money sooner than Trump, reporting by June that it’s spent $189.7 million, versus $92.1 million by the Trump marketing campaign. That pattern has remained the case now that Harris has entered the race, with the Harris marketing campaign spending $173.8 million final month to Trump’s $61.3 million. The Biden and Harris campaigns have now spent $444.5 million in whole this election cycle, versus $177.6 million by Trump.
Who Are Billionaires Giving To?
Billionaires have damaged out their checkbooks for each candidates. Trump’s largest donor is billionaire inheritor Timothy Mellon, who’s given an eye-popping $115 million to assist the ex-president, together with a brand new $50 million donation to Trump’s Make America Great Again tremendous PAC in July. Trump’s different prime billionaire supporters embrace Linda McMahon, spouse of wrestling mogul Vince McMahon; vitality govt Kelcy Warren; ABC Supply founder Diane Hendricks; oil billionaire Timothy Dunn and well-known conservative donors Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein. Tesla founder Elon Musk has additionally backed Trump by the newly shaped America PAC, however he has denied studies saying he would donate $45 million per thirty days to the tremendous PAC. After Biden attracted billionaires like Michael Bloomberg and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, Harris has already bought the backing of a variety of rich benefactors herself, together with Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, former Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg and philanthropist Melinda French Gates. More than 100 enterprise capitalists signed a letter on July 31 backing Harris’ candidacy and pledging to vote for her, which included such billionaires as entrepreneur Mark Cuban, investor Vinod Khosla and Lowercase Capital founder Chris Sacca.
Tangent
In addition to serving to his marketing campaign, Trump’s donors have additionally helped to finance his private authorized payments by his management PAC Save America, which has been used to pay his authorized charges as circumstances towards him have piled up. Trump’s marketing campaign initially skimmed cash from small-money donors for his authorized fund, siphoning 10% of each greenback raised by his web site for Save America. That ended when Trump joined forces with the RNC in March, however the ex-president is now soliciting assist from larger donors who give to his Trump 47 Joint Fundraising Committee. Donations to that committee first go to the Trump marketing campaign—with a most contribution of $6,600 to his marketing campaign and recount efforts—and as much as $5,000 then goes to Save America. It’s solely after that most has been reached that any cash left over will go to the RNC and state events.
Key Background
Harris entered the presidential race on July 21, as Biden introduced he was leaving the race and endorsed the vp minutes later. Her candidacy has reignited the presidential race as Biden confronted rising questions on his psychological health and polling confirmed Trump pulling forward, with the VP’s monumental fundraising haul reflecting a broader enthusiasm about Harris on the left that’s additionally included an explosion of social media memes and hundreds mobilizing for her marketing campaign. Harris’ fundraising hauls come as Biden had lengthy maintained a fundraising lead over Trump all through the marketing campaign. That narrowed extra in latest months as Republicans have ended their major and coalesced across the ex-president, Trump first outraising Biden in April as he joined forces with the RNC and as his prison trial was underway.
Further Reading
