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 new filings confirming the vice president had more than $100 million more than Trump in cash by the end of August after raising more than four times as much as him last month.
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a rally on Sept. 20 in Madison, Wis.
Key Facts
The Biden—now Harris—campaign committee raised $678.2 million and Trump’s campaign committee raised $309.2 million in total between January 2023 and Aug. 31, 2024, the most recent date for which Federal Election Commission filings are available.
Harris also ended August with far more cash on hand than Trump—with $235.5 million to Trump’s $134.6 million—further widening her cash lead after erasing a previous cash advantage the Trump campaign had at the end of June, before President Joe Biden dropped out of the race.
The Harris campaign raised $189.6 million in August alone, while the Trump campaign raised $44.5 million, after Harris shook up what was previously a more evenly matched cash race (Biden and Trump had raised $284.1 million and $217.2 million in total as of the end of June, respectively).
While official fundraising figures for September won’t be released until next month, Harris campaign spokesman James Singer confirmed that it and affiliated groups raised $47 million in the 24 hours after her debate with Trump on Sept. 10—her largest one-day haul since entering the race—and held her most lucrative fundraiser yet on Sunday in New York City, where she took in $27 million.
Harris quickly posted huge fundraising numbers when she entered the race on July 21, with her campaign reporting $81 million in donations in the first 24 hours after launching, and announcing Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her vice presidential nominee has also fueled fundraising, with the campaign reporting it raised $36 million in the 24 hours after the running mate was announced.
Biden’s campaign committee was renamed for Harris when he dropped out and endorsed her, and though Trump has challenged that with the FEC, his challenge isn’t expected to impact the election.
Many top donors also bankroll independent political groups like super PACs, which aren’t beholden to the FEC’s $6,600-per-person limit for direct campaign donations—which is where Trump still holds an advantage, at least for now.
FEC filings through Aug. 21 show super PACs have spent approximately $167 million supporting Harris since the beginning of July, while PACs have spent approximately $55.2 million supporting Trump during that same period.
FEC filings report the top 10 super PACs supporting Trump have collectively raised approximately $329.4 million since the beginning of the year versus $256.6 million raised by the top 10 PACs supporting Harris—though some PACs have only reported their fundraising totals through the end of last quarter on June 30, so pro-Harris PACs may have narrowed that gap by the time the next quarterly totals are released in October.
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Big Number
More than $615 million. That’s how much the Harris campaign said on Sept. 6 it has raised since Biden dropped out, including $82 million raised during the Democratic National Convention.
Surprising Fact
Harris’ fundraising surge after she first announced her campaign surpassed the Trump campaign’s biggest donation bumps. The Trump campaign reported raising $52.8 million in the 24 hours after he was convicted on 34 felony charges in Manhattan in May, which led to the WinRed platform for small GOP donations temporarily crashing from the traffic. That was soon surpassed by the $81 million Harris raised in the first 24 hours of her campaign.
What To Watch For
We won’t know for sure how the two candidates’ fundraising matches up as of September until Oct. 20. That’s when the campaigns will submit their FEC filings for how much they raised this month.
How Much Are The Parties Raising?
Democrats are also outraising Republicans at the party level, with FEC filings through July showing the Democratic National Committee has raised $385.5 million this election cycle, while the Republican National Committee has raised $331.1 million. That comes even as Republicans very slightly outraised the Democratic Party last month, taking in $30.94 million and Democrats $30.9 million. Democrats still had more cash going into August, however, holding $65.8 million to Republicans’ $30.9 million and erasing the GOP’s previous cash advantage it held at the end of June. After being narrowly outraised by Republicans in July, Democrats came back in August and raised $68.7 million to Republicans’ $40.4 million. The GOP still had more cash on hand going into September, however, with $79.3 million versus Democrats’ $50 million cash pile.
How Much Are Harris And Trump Spending?
The Biden—now Harris—campaign has historically spent its cash earlier than Trump, reporting through June that it’s spent $189.7 million, versus $92.1 million by the Trump campaign. That trend has remained the case now that Harris has entered the race, with the Harris campaign spending $173.8 million last month to Trump’s $61.3 million. The Biden and Harris campaigns have now spent $444.5 million in total this election cycle, versus $177.6 million by Trump.
Who Are Billionaires Giving To?
Billionaires have broken out their checkbooks for both candidates. Trump’s biggest donor is billionaire heir Timothy Mellon, who’s given an eye-popping $115 million to support the ex-president, including a new $50 million donation to Trump’s Make America Great Again super PAC in July. Trump’s other top billionaire supporters include Linda McMahon, wife of wrestling mogul Vince McMahon; energy executive 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 also backed Trump through the newly formed America PAC, but he has denied reports saying he would donate $45 million per month to the super PAC. After Biden attracted billionaires like Michael Bloomberg and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, Harris has already got the backing of a number of wealthy benefactors herself, including Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, former Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg and philanthropist Melinda French Gates. More than 100 venture 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 helping his campaign, Trump’s donors have also helped to finance his personal legal bills through his leadership PAC Save America, which has been used to pay his legal fees as cases against him have piled up. Trump’s campaign initially skimmed money from small-money donors for his legal fund, siphoning 10% of every dollar raised through his website for Save America. That ended when Trump joined forces with the RNC in March, but the ex-president is now soliciting help from bigger donors who give to his Trump 47 Joint Fundraising Committee. Donations to that committee first go to the Trump campaign—with a maximum contribution of $6,600 to his campaign and recount efforts—and up to $5,000 then goes to Save America. It’s only after that maximum has been reached that any money left over will go to the RNC and state parties.
Key Background
Harris entered the presidential race on July 21, as Biden announced he was leaving the race and endorsed the vice president minutes later. Her candidacy has reignited the presidential race as Biden faced growing questions about his mental fitness and polling showed Trump pulling ahead, with the VP’s enormous fundraising haul reflecting a broader enthusiasm about Harris on the left that’s also included an explosion of social media memes and thousands mobilizing for her campaign. Harris’ fundraising hauls come as Biden had long maintained a fundraising lead over Trump throughout the campaign. That narrowed more in recent months as Republicans have ended their primary and coalesced around the ex-president, Trump first outraising Biden in April as he joined forces with the RNC and as his criminal trial was underway.
