Top Line
As the November election approaches, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are in a fundraising race. Counts through June showed that Harris (and Joe Biden, before he dropped out of the race) had raised more money than Trump, and early numbers from July suggest that Harris’ lead has only widened since she entered the race.
Former President Donald Trump spoke at a campaign rally at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids on July 20. … (+)
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Key Facts
The Biden (now Harris) campaign committee raised a total of $284.1 million between January 2023 and June 30, 2024, the latest date for which Federal Election Commission filings are available, while the Trump campaign committee raised $217.2 million.
But Trump ended June with a financial advantage over the Biden/Harris campaign, with $128.1 million in cash on hand to the Democrats’ $96 million.
Early numbers from July suggest that Harris has negated Trump’s financial advantage: Her campaign reported raising $310 million last month and has $377 million in cash on hand, including funds raised by the Democratic National Committee and other affiliates, while the Trump campaign reported raising just $138 million from its campaign and affiliates but has $327 million in cash on hand.
When Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris, his campaign committee was renamed after her, but while Trump has filed a challenge with the Federal Election Commission, the challenge is not expected to affect the election.
Many big donors also give money to independent political groups like super PACs, which aren’t bound by the FEC’s $6,600-per-person limit on direct campaign contributions, but whose status has been unclear since Harris entered the race.
According to Open Secrets research, about $255.9 million had been raised by the top 10 political action committees supporting Trump as of June 30. Most of these committees are super PACs, meaning they can spend large amounts of money on candidates but cannot coordinate directly with campaigns.
The nine outside PACs currently supporting Harris had raised $164.6 million as of June 30, before Harris announced her candidacy, and include both super PACs and hybrid PACs that can give directly to her campaign.
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Amazing facts
Since Harris announced her campaign, her fundraising has skyrocketed, surpassing the Trump campaign’s largest donation. The Trump campaign reported raising $52.8 million in 24 hours after Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts in Manhattan in May, which temporarily caused a drop in traffic on WinRed, a platform for small Republican donations. But it was quickly surpassed by the $81 million Harris raised in her first 24 hours.
Points to note
How the candidates’ fundraising figures from July will stack up won’t be known for sure until Aug. 20, when both campaigns are scheduled to submit figures to the Federal Election Commission for how much they’ve raised this month, which will show how much the campaigns have raised excluding national parties and ensure that the numbers they’ve reported are accurate.
How much money does each party raise?
Democrats have outraised Republicans at the party level, with the DNC raising $285.9 million and the RNC raising $259.7 million, according to Federal Election Commission filings through June. But like Trump, the RNC had more cash on hand at the end of June, reporting $101.6 million in reserves compared to the DNC’s $78 million. But the Harris campaign’s record fundraising report includes donations to national parties, so it’s entirely possible the Democrats made up the shortfall.
How much are Harris and Trump spending?
The Biden (now Harris) campaign has so far outspent the Trump campaign, reporting that it has spent $189.7 million through June, compared to $92.1 million for the Trump campaign. Trump has consistently led, but it remains to be seen how that will change now that Harris’ entry has narrowed the gap between the two candidates. The Biden campaign spent $12 million on advertising in battleground states this week, which Axios reported is believed to be Trump’s largest ad buy since the primary.
Who do billionaires give to?
Billionaires have written their checkbooks to both candidates. Trump’s biggest donor is billionaire heir Timothy Mellon, who has donated a staggering $75 million to support the former president. Other major billionaire backers include Linda McMahon, wife of wrestling mogul Vince McMahon, energy executive Kelcy Warren, ABC Supply founder Diane Hendricks, oil billionaire Timothy Dunn, and prominent conservative donors Richard and Elizabeth Eilen. Tesla founder Elon Musk is also backing Trump through his newly formed USA PAC, but has denied reports that he is giving $45 million a month to the super PAC. After Biden attracted billionaires like Michael Bloomberg and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, Harris herself has already garnered the support of a host of wealthy backers, including Hoffman, Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, former Mehta COO Sheryl Sandberg and philanthropist Melinda French Gates. More than 100 venture capitalists signed a letter on Wednesday endorsing Harris’ candidacy and pledging to vote for her, including billionaires such as entrepreneur Mark Cuban, investor Vinod Khosla and Lowercase Capital founder Chris Sacca.
tangent
In addition to supporting his campaign, Trump donors are also helping cover his personal legal costs through his leadership PAC, Save America, which is helping pay his legal bills as the lawsuits against him mount. Trump’s campaign initially siphoned off small donors to fund his own legal cases, funneling 10% of the money raised on his website to Save America. This ended when Trump teamed up with the Republican National Committee in March, but the former president is now asking big donors to help him with his Trump 47 Joint Fundraising Committee, which will first send donations to the Trump campaign (up to $6,600 for his campaign and recount efforts) and then send up to $5,000 to Save America.
Main Background
Harris entered the presidential race on July 21, but minutes later Biden announced his withdrawal from the race and endorsed her. Harris’ candidacy reignited the presidential race amid growing questions about Biden’s mental health and with polls showing Trump in the lead. Harris’s huge fundraising reflects widespread enthusiasm for Harris on the left, including a social media meme explosion and thousands of people mobilized for her campaign. Harris’ fundraising grew because Biden led Trump in fundraising for a long time throughout the campaign. The gap has narrowed further in recent months as Republicans solidified behind the former president after the primaries, and Trump first outraised Biden in April when Biden was working with the Republican National Committee and his criminal trial was ongoing.
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