Harris’ $361 Million Haul Widens Financial Edge Over Trump
(Bloomberg) -- Vice President Kamala Harris raised $361 million in August, highlighting how her ascent to the top of the Democratic ticket has energized the party’s donors and base and upended the race with Republican Donald Trump.
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Harris has raised $615 million since President Joe Biden announced he would stand aside on July 21. Her haul includes money raised for her campaign, the Democratic National Committee and state parties. The Democratic presidential nominee had $404 million in the bank at the start of September, topping the $295 million that Trump reported for that time period.
Harris raised almost three times the $130 million that Trump did in August. Both campaigns are required to file monthly fundraising data with the Federal Election Commission by Sept. 20.
The flood of money for Harris highlights how her candidacy has galvanized Democrats, fueling a surge in polling numbers and in fundraising.
“This is the most successful grassroots fundraising month in presidential election history,” said campaign co-chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg, who added that 95% of the contributions came from donors giving less than $200.
Deep-Pocketed Donors
He also pointed out enthusiasm among deep-pocketed donors. “What we have seen is a real acceleration around Silicon Valley, Wall Street and big business,” Katzenberg said. While the Democratic nominee strongly supports working class voters and unions, she also wants American businesses to be competitive, he added.
Harris’ proposal to raise revenues by placing a tax on unrealized capital gains — a key issue for investors and venture capitalists — hasn’t dampened support for her among wealthier contributors, Katzenberg said.
“It’s certainly an issue of conversation but it has not dissuaded donors,” he said.
Some in the business community are urging caution. “If you tax unrealized gains, you are going to kill the stock market,” Mark Cuban, a billionaire who has praised Harris, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” adding that he doesn’t believe Harris would follow through with a such a move.
Daniella Ballou-Aares, who leads the left-of-center business group Leadership Now Project, says executives won’t agree with every aspect of Harris’ economic policy, but her coalition believes she would offer more consistency for the private sector than Trump, especially in terms of national security and election integrity.
“She has so far signaled a recognition of how important a dynamic business environment is to our economy,” Ballou-Aares, whose organization is endorsing Harris, said in an interview. “Business is more diverse than it was in terms of race and gender. It just looks more like the country than historically.”
Earlier: Harris Had More Donors in 11 Days Than Biden Did Over Entire Run
More than 60% of the campaign’s August donors were women, the campaign said in a statement, while one-fifth were either registered Republicans or independents. Nearly 3 million people gave, including 1.3 million making their first donation in the 2024 election cycle, according to the campaign.
Campaign Spending
The Trump campaign and its surrogates have downplayed the significance of Harris’ fundraising prowess, saying they long expected Democrats to outraise them and that they will still have enough cash to run an effective operation.
Still, Harris’ ability to pull in large sums is a worrisome development for Trump, who briefly took the lead in the money race at the end of the second quarter only to fall behind again, as the candidates enter the stretch from Labor Day to Election Day — often the most frenetic and expensive in a presidential race.
Harris’ emergence forced the former president to change strategy, abandoning his spending restraint to pour money into advertising in an attempt to define his new general election opponent and drive up her negatives. His campaign spent $64.5 million on paid media in August, according to AdImpact, up from $2.6 million in July. Trump’s campaign spent $32 million more than it raised that month.
Earlier: Trump Campaign Spent $32 Million More Than It Raised in August
Harris’ campaign has spent heavily on media and resources to get out the vote in November. It has more than 312 offices in battleground states, staffed by more than 2,000 people. Volunteers made 900,000 calls and knocked on 150,000 doors on a recent weekend, contacting more than 1 million voters, according to the campaign, which has reserved $370 million in paid media between Labor Day and Election Day.
The Democratic nominee has gained ground in polls, erasing Trump’s national lead in many surveys and taking the lead in key battleground states. A Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll from Aug. 23-27 found her leading 49% to 47% among registered voters across seven swing states.
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