Photo: Collected
Vice President Kamala Harris campaign announced Friday (2 August), that it raised $310 million last month, an eyepopping sum showing that donors who once seemed spooked about the prospects for November's election with President Joe Biden are now offering mountains of cash to boost his former No. 2.
The haul by Harris, the Democratic National Committee and affiliated entities far outpaced Republican former President Donald Trump, whose campaign and assorted committees said they took in $138.7 million for July.
The vice president's campaign also says it entered August with $377 million in cash on hand, which it described as the most for any presidential candidate at this point in the cycle. It was also well above the $327 million Trump's team announced having to start the month.
“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,” Harris campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said in a statement. “Our money is going to the work that wins close elections.”
Trump's totals for July were augmented by an assassination attempt against the former president during a rally in Pennsylvania, which galvanized some of his fiercest supporters, and by his subsequent revealing of his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
Harris' team, meanwhile, is hoping for another jolt early next week, when she's expected to announce her own running mate, and during the Democratic convention, which opens in Chicago on Aug. 19.
The figures released by both campaigns this week do not include full Federal Elections Commission fillings, which will come later this month. That makes it difficult to determine how much of Harris' haul came after Biden announced on July 21 that he was abandoning his reelection bid and endorsing Harris.
That decision followed weeks of some top Democratic donors, as well as dozens of members of Congress, urging the 81-year-old president to step aside after his dismal debate performance on June 27.
Still, Harris' team had previously announced that it took in more than $200 million during her first week as a presidential candidate, meaning that the lion's share of July's strong haul came after the vice president took over the top of the ticket. She is looking to reset the race against Trump, stepping up her travel schedule and sharply criticizing the Republican nominee as she leans more heavily into telling her personal and professional story.
The vice president is set to become her party’s formal presidential nominee through virtual voting by Democratic convention delegates, set to conclude Monday.
Her campaign said that two-thirds of its July donations came from first-time contributors in the 2024 election cycle. In all, the month saw more than 3 million donors make more than 4.2 million contributions — with more than 2 million donors making their first donation this cycle, while 94% of July's donations were under $200.
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