The Democratic campaign reached another milestone in early October. According to several American media and the site Open Secretswhich tracks political spending, candidate Kamala Harris’ campaign has now raised nearly $1 billion. A historic record, just 80 days after his official campaign declaration on August 6 and while the race for donations continues while awaiting the presidential election on November 5.
In the presidential campaign, the calculation of donations is based on two main cash inputs: money received by the candidates’ committee and money coming from external resources. According to the latest available data, Kamala Harris’ campaign committee raised $678.2 million, compared to $309.2 million for Donald Trump between January 2023 and August 31, 2024. While Harris also completed the month of August with more external money available than Trump ($235.5 million versus 134.6 million), confirming his lead in terms of cash flow.
However, Republicans are catching up through political action committees called Super PACs. These are organizations that can raise unlimited funds for candidates without coordinating directly with their campaign teams. Thus, according to the Open Secrets site, the ten main Super PACs supporting Trump have collectively raised approximately $329.4 million since the start of the year, compared to $256.6 million raised by the ten main Super PACs supporting Harris.
No need to “brag” about donations
Kamala Harris’ breakneck pace suggests she has managed to keep donors large and small enthused as the campaign enters the home stretch before the Nov. 5 election, notes NBC News. Vice President Harris’ campaign officials, however, have not yet released the total amount she raised in September. In one article, the New York Times reports among other things that she does not want to “boast” about her large donations and make voters complacent.
In addition, an article from Washington Post suggests his campaign team is worried, considering they don’t have enough to win so far. Some observers say news that Kamala Harris is breaking records could hurt the campaign by reducing fundraising down the stretch. Some executives in his political office told the Washington newspaper that the campaign continues to face “significant headwinds” that will require more money in the coming weeks. They indicated that the seven key states (also called Swing States) remain within the margin of error, requiring expensive spending plans. While Harris’ campaign raises more, it also spends more than Trump’s, about three times as much, according to the Federal Election Commission.
Small contributors give less to Trump
Faced with Kamala Harris, Donald Trump does not fare any better. American news agency Associated Press (AP) recently observed that contributions from small donors (less than $200) to Donald Trump have fallen since his last White House campaign in 2020. A financial challenge for the former president, as he tries to keep pace with the Democrats’ “fundraising machine.”
According to the Open Secrets website, Trump raised $98 million from these donors through June, a 40% drop compared to the $165 million raised from the same segment of the population during the same period during from his previous presidential campaign. This decline in donations forced former President Donald Trump to rely more on wealthy donors. A strategy that contradicts the populist message that propelled him to the White House, analyzes Associated Press (AP). If these donations are so important for the candidates, it is because they are partly used for television advertisements, the hiring of staff in key states, or even to facilitate travel and secure crucial data to reach the target voters.
In addition, with less than a month to go before the election, Kamala Harris seems to have a feverish lead in the latest polls. Tuesday October 8, an Ipsos survey carried out for the British agency Reuters indicated 46% of voting intentions for Kamala Harris, compared to 43% for the billionaire, when the latter was six points behind in a study published two weeks earlier.