With under 45 days to go until the 2024 presidential election, Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign has outpaced her opponent, former President Donald Trump, in fundraising totals.
ABC News reported Saturday that Harris had so far raised triple the amount of funds as Trump did last month, based on disclosures filed with the Federal Election Commission. It said that her campaign and the Democratic National Committee raised $257 million in August, compared to $85 million raised by Trump and the Republican National Committee.
Harris became the official Democratic candidate just last month, shortly after President Joe Biden announced he would drop out of the race. She’s running with Minnestoa Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate. Trump announced he would run for president again back in November 2022 and he’s running with Republican Ohio Sen. JD Vance.
“The vice president quickly reversed the financial disadvantage that Democrats had faced with President Joe Biden at the top of the ticket, and remains in a better financial position as the election approaches,” said POLITICO.
According to Axios, the Harris-Walz campaign raised $190 million in August. When coordinated fundraising activities with her committees are included, that total increased to $361 million, compared to the $130 million coordinated effort Trump’s campaign, the RNC and other supporting committees.
“It’s a sign that former President Trump’s fundraising has stalled in recent months and that Harris has managed to unleash the vaunted Democratic grassroots fundraising,” said Axios.
Now, going into the final stretch before the election, the Harris campaign and the Democratic National Committee have $286 million in the bank, compared to the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee’s $214 million, according to the filings.
POLTICO reported that the Harris campaign also spent three times than Trump’s did ($174 million versus $61 million) but that it still managed to grow her cash advantage. Per that outlet’s analysis, Trump’s expenses doubled in August compared to July. Harris and the DNC have 1,200 staffers on payroll for the campaign, compared to 382 from Trump and the RNC.
“Harris entered August with more money than Trump, and managed to raise more than she spent over the month,” POLTICO said. “Trump’s campaign, by contrast, spent more than it raised despite far fewer expenses. Her campaign reported taking in $190 million; his, just shy of $45 million.”
While the outlet noted that Trump is getting substantial outside support from the Republican Party and super PACs, it also said campaigns get better TV ads than outside groups do. Out of its $174 million in expenses last month, Harris’ campaign spent $137 million media production and ad buys. Trump’s campaign also spent more than half ($47 million) of its $61 million in expenses on paid media last month.
“A silver lining for Republicans might be the cash available to the RNC, which reported $40 million raised and $60 million spent over the month, with $79 million cash on hand at the end of the month,” POLITICO reported. “That total exceeded cash on hand for the DNC, which reported both raising ($69 million) and spending ($84 million) more money than the RNC, leaving it with $50 million in the bank.”
As of Saturday, FiveThirtyEight’s aggregated polling data indicated that Harris was leading Trump at the polls, 48.4% to 45.5%. The Hill’s Decision Desk HQ forecast also said Harris had a 55% chance of winning the race and The Virtual Tout forecasting site predicted Democrats would have 458 Electoral College votes, far more than the 270 needed to win the election.