REUTERS
Vice President Kamala Harris’ recently rebranded campaign claims to have shattered 2024 fundraising records with a jaw-dropping $310 million haul across its committees during the month of July.
That’s more than double the $138.7 million pull former President Donald Trump’s team touted across its authorized committees in July and the Harris campaign is dubbing it the “best grassroots fundraising month in presidential history.”
With the mammoth yield, the Harris team has crossed the $1 billion fundraising threshold for the 2024 cycle, which appears to make it the fastest presidential campaign in US history to achieve the feat.
“This is a history-making haul for a candidate who will make history this November,” Harris for President campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said in a statement.
“The tremendous outpouring of support we’ve seen in just a short time makes clear the Harris coalition is mobilized, growing, and ready to put in the work to defeat Trump this November,” she added.
With July’s avalanche of fundraising, the Harris team is now reporting $377 million in cash on hand when combined with its joint fundraising committees as well as the Democratic National Committee.
Trump’s team announced $327 million cash on hand by the end of July when combined with its authorized committees.
Powering the monster fundraising numbers was the roughly $200 million Harris’ team raked in within less than a week of President Biden abruptly dropping out of the race and endorsing his veep.
Prior to Harris taking the reins, the Trump campaign had been playing catchup on the fundraising circuit and leaped past the Biden campaign’s — as it was then known — war chest during June.
By the end of June, Trump’s entire campaign operation had $281 million cash on hand when combined with the Republican National Committee, compared to Biden’s entire campaign operation’s $237 million cash on hand when combined with the DNC, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
Notably, the Biden campaign had outraised Trump’s team in June as well, per the FEC. But it also outspent Trump’s campaign nearly six to one during that same period.
Harris’ team now finds itself with some $50 million in more financial firepower compared to Trump’s campaign in the battle of combined war chests.
In another bright spot for the vice president’s team, it claims that about two-thirds of its haul came from first-time donors and that 8 of its 10 best grassroots fundraising days were in July.
More specifically, there were over 4.2 million contributions from 3 million donors in July, including 2 million who made contributions for the first time, per the campaign.
Roughly 94% of its contributions were under $200. The typical donor occupations were teachers and nurses, the campaign said.
“From historic grassroots fundraising to hundreds of thousands of new volunteers, one thing is clear as Vice President Harris continues to prosecute the case against convicted felon Donald Trump — voters are fired up and ready to beat Trump again this November,” DNC Chair Jaime Harrison said in a statement.
The fundraising numbers come amid a dramatic shift in faith among many Democrats who began the month of July in despair amid widespread uncertainty over Biden’s ability to win the Nov. 5 presidential election after his dismal debate performance against Trump.
A Democratic mutiny quickly ensued and ultimately, Biden withdrew from the race on July 21 — a historically unprecedented move at so late in the race. In the time since, polls between Harris and Trump have tightened dramatically.
Now Democrats have become a bit more upbeat and bullish about their chances come November, while Trump has been working to recalibrate his reelection strategy to a new opponent.
With that fundraising bonanza, the Harris campaign is planning to build upon its existing investments, which include 260 coordinated campaign offices and a staff of over 1,400 across battleground states.
“Our money is going to the work that wins close elections – whether it be the organizer knocking doors in DeKalb County, a rural office opening in Pennsylvania, or a college student tabling at a club fair,” Rodriguez added.
The DNC opened its roll call to crown the official party standard bearer on Thursday and will close it by next Monday.
The virtual nomination ahead of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago later this month is a precaution to ensure ballot access.
At the moment Harris is considered the presumptive Democratic nominee for president. She is expected to unveil her pick for vice president within the coming days.