The enthusiasm that has accompanied Kamala Harris since she replaced Joe Biden as the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate has spread to donors. The Democrat’s campaign raised $361 million (about 325 million euros at the current exchange rate) in August, shattering all records in the history of US presidential elections, according to figures from her organization. That almost triples the $130 million raised by Donald Trump and wipes out the advantage he had in cash on hand. Now it is Harris who has a difference of $109 million in her favor, although the photograph of the official campaigns is only part of a broader landscape.
Harris has already set a record with $81 million raised in the first 24 hours since the current vice president was announced as a candidate. August was the first full month with Harris at the head of the ticket. That month saw the Democratic convention held in Chicago, a moment of great visibility that the campaign took advantage of to intensify its fundraising efforts.
Since she took over from Joe Biden, the amount raised has risen to 615 million dollars. The candidate benefited from the fact that many large Democratic donors had cut off or withheld the flow of money to Joe Biden, partly as a way of putting pressure on him and partly because they considered it was useless money, since they did not believe that the president had a chance of being re-elected against Trump after the disastrous debate on June 27 in Atlanta. With the change of address, the money tap opened again, this time in torrents.
In August, nearly three million people gave, 1.3 million of whom made their first donation of the cycle. Of those who gave for the first time, three-quarters did not contribute in the last presidential election. Ninety-five percent of all August donations were for less than $200,000, and teachers and nurses remain among the most frequent professions for donors. More than 60 percent of all donors in August were women, and nearly one-fifth of donors were registered Republicans or independents.
“In a short period of time, Vice President Harris’ candidacy has galvanized a historic, broad and diverse coalition with the kind of enthusiasm, energy and strength that can win a close election,” campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said in a statement. “As we enter the final stages of this election, we are making sure that every hard-earned dollar goes to winning over the voters who will decide this election. Make no mistake: this election will be very close and difficult to win,” he added.
404 million in cash
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The campaign of Kamala Harris and her vice presidential candidate Tim Walz ended the month with $404 million in cash on hand. That’s $109 million more than Trump’s campaign has. However, so-called superPACs, political action committees in which contributions are not limited, prevent a more reliable picture of the available resources.
Trump has the support of numerous billionaires willing to loosen their purse strings. The Democratic campaign points to two such committees that have funded more than $150 million in spending for Trump in just the past six weeks thanks to donations from two billionaires. MAGA Inc. has spent nearly $100 million on ads and direct mail operations since late July, largely funded by the $125 million billionaire Tim Mellon gave earlier this year, and Preserve America PAC has spent $54 million, funded by Miriam Adelson, who has pledged to spend more than $100 million to support Trump.
Trump’s campaign says 98 percent of August’s donations were less than $200. Of the $130 million raised that month, the average donation was $56, meaning there were just over $2.3 million in contributions. With that fundraising, the campaign ended August with $295 million in cash on hand.
“With Republicans united and a growing number of disaffected Democrats and independents crossing party lines, the Trump-Vance campaign has momentum heading into the final stretch of the race,” Trump Campaign Senior Advisor Brian Hughes said in a statement. “These August fundraising numbers are a reflection of that movement and will propel President Trump’s America First movement back into the White House so we can undo the terrible failures of Harris and Biden.”
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