Trump Vs. Harris Fundraising Race: Harris Raises $540 Million Since Biden Dropped Out, Campaign Says
Key Facts
The Biden—now Harris—campaign committee raised $516.8 million and Trump’s campaign committee raised $268.5 million in total between January 2023 and July 31, 2024, the most recent date for which Federal Election Commission filings are available.
Harris also ended July with far more cash on hand than Trump—with $219.7 million to Trump’s $151.3 million—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 $204.5 million in July alone, while the Trump campaign raised $47.5 million, shaking 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) as Harris entered the race on July 21 and quickly posted huge fundraising numbers, with her campaign reporting $81 million in donations in the first 24 hours of her campaign.
The fundraising surge reportedly continued into August: On Aug. 25, the campaign said Harris For President and allied groups had raised a combined $540 million since Biden dropped out, including some $82 million during the Democratic National Convention (those fundraising totals won’t be verified until official August data is released next month).
Harris 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 $64.5 million supporting Harris since the beginning of July, while PACs have spent approximately $38.9 million supporting Trump during that same period.
The top 10 super PACs supporting Trump have collectively raised approximately $305.6 million since the beginning of the year, however, compared with $199.2 million raised by the top 10 PACs supporting Harris—though she may be able to narrow that gap in the weeks ahead.
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 August until September 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 $316.8 million, while the Republican National Committee has raised $290.7 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 they held at the end of June.
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 $80.7 million last month to Trump’s $24.3 million. The Biden and Harris campaigns have now spent $329.5 million in total this election cycle, versus $117.2 million by Trump. There are signs that the ex-president’s campaign is ramping up its spending as Harris has narrowed the polling gap between the two sides, however, making a $12 million ad buy for advertisements in battleground states through mid-August that Axios reported was believed to be Trump’s biggest ad buy since the primary election.
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 Hoffman, 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.
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