Which campaign brought in more money?

Topline

Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign has given Democrats a significant lead in fundraising. Federal filings released at the last minute before Election Day suggest her campaign maintains a massive lead over former President Donald Trump in the final days of the campaign, based on larger donors disbursing checks to each candidate's campaigns.

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a rally on October 30 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Getty Images

Important facts

The Biden – now Harris – campaign committee has gathered $997.2 million and Trump's campaign committee raised 388 million dollars in the aggregate between January 2023 and October 16, 2024, the latest date for which Federal Election Commission filings are available, ending with 118 million dollars And $36.2 million each in the cash balance.

While campaigns don't report their full finances again until after Election Day, candidates still have to report donations of $1,000 or more to the FEC within 48 hours — which is largely useless for Harris, whose campaign has raised revenue $19.5 million from major donors between October 17th and November 1st, compared to just $4.5 million for Trump.

The Harris campaign was elevated $97.2 million in the first half of October alone, while the Trump campaign only increased $16.2 millionafter Harris upset the previously more balanced cash competition (Biden and Trump had increased). $284.1 million And $217.2 million total as of the end of June).

The Harris Victory Fund — which raises money for both Harris' campaign and Democratic groups — raised donations $1.2 billion this election cycle, according to an FEC filing released Oct. 24.

Trump's National Committee JFC, which raises money for Trump's campaign, and the Republican National Committee only took in revenue $375.3 million During this election cycle, the former president's Trump 47 Committee, another joint fundraising committee that raises money from major donors $327.5 million.

While Harris already had a fundraising lead over Trump, her donations skyrocketed in September: NBC News first reported that Harris and affiliated committees had passed the fundraiser 1 billion dollars brand since entering the race due to her fundraising in September, which included: 47 million dollars The campaign reported fundraising in the 24 hours after Harris' debate against Trump on Sept. 10 – her largest single-day donation since the start of the race – as well as lucrative fundraising events in New York City and San Francisco last month, reportedly in between 27 million dollars And 28 million dollars apiece.

Many top donors also fund independent political groups such as super PACs that are not bound by the FEC's $6,600 per person limit on direct campaign contributions, where Trump has a greater cash advantage.

FEC filings through Nov. 4 show super PACs have spent about $668.9 million Supporting Harris since early July, while PACs have spent about $194.6 million supported Trump during the same period.

However, FEC filings suggest that Trump's largest super PACs are also raising more than Harris' top funds: The 10 largest super PACs supporting Trump, as listed by the FEC, have raised a total of about $1.5 million $569.2 million since the beginning of the 2023 election cycle (as of Oct. 16), versus $535.5 million raised by the top 10 PACs supporting Harris.

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Surprising fact

Harris' billion-dollar haul is expected to be the fastest ever by a presidential candidate, the New York Times reports, noting that both Biden and Trump raised more than $1 billion each with their national parties in 2020, it said but was achieved over a much longer period of time. Anonymous sources cited by the Times said Harris raised the billion dollars in less than 80 days. Harris and her combined groups raised $1 billion in the quarter between July and October alone, which also set a record for the most profitable fundraising quarter ever, according to The Times. The Harris campaign did not publicly disclose how much it raised in September before federal filings were released in October. The New York Times reported that she didn't want to “bragging” about her big donations and make voters complacent.

How do Harris' fundraising surges compare to Trump's?

Harris' fundraising surge after she first announced her campaign surpassed the Trump campaign's largest fundraising increases. The Trump campaign reported that it raised $52.8 million in the 24 hours after his conviction on 34 felony counts in Manhattan in May, causing the WinRed platform for small GOP donations to be temporarily taken off the air was drawn. That figure was soon surpassed by the $81 million Harris raised in the first 24 hours of her campaign.

How much do the parties charge?

Democrats also outperform Republicans at the party level, with FEC filings through Oct. 16 showing that the Democratic National Committee conducted a survey $538.8 million in this election cycle, while the Republican National Committee has raised $390.2 million. The Democrats increased their lead over the Republicans in September and took the majority $98.7 million to the Republicans $37.8 million. However, the GOP still had more cash on hand as of October 16th $47.8 million versus Democrats 30 million dollars Stack of money.

How much are Harris and Trump spending?

The Biden — now Harris — campaign has a history of spending its money earlier than Trump, reporting $189.7 million spent through June, compared to $92.1 million for the Trump campaign. This trend remains after Harris entered the race with Harris' campaign spending $165.9 million to Trump in the first half of October $99.7 million. The Biden and Harris campaigns have now ended $880.2 million overall this election cycle, versus $354.9 million from Trump. The Times reports that the Trump campaign's low spending may be intentional, as filings show that the campaign appears to have passed on many traditional campaign expenses – such as payroll and venues for Trump's campaign events – to other groups affiliated with the campaign and RNC.

Who do billionaires give to?

Billionaires have pulled out their checkbooks for both candidates. Trump's biggest donor is billionaire heir Timothy Mellon, who donated a staggering $150 million to support the ex-president. Tesla CEO Elon Musk also donated nearly $120 million to the pro-Trump America PAC, which reportedly handles most of the Trump campaign, accounting for nearly all the money the PAC raised in the last quarter has taken. Trump has nearly 50 other billionaire supporters, including Linda McMahon, wife of wrestling mogul Vince McMahon; energy manager Kelcy Warren; ABC Supply founder Diane Hendricks; Oil billionaire Timothy Dunn and well-known conservative donors Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein. After Biden attracted billionaires like Michael Bloomberg and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, Harris herself has already garnered the support of at least 76 wealthy benefactors, including 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 supporting Harris' candidacy and pledging to vote for her, including billionaires like entrepreneur Mark Cuban, investor Vinod Khosla and Lowercase Capital founder Chris Sacca.

tangent

In addition to supporting his campaign, Trump's donors also helped fund his personal legal fees through his leadership team, PAC Save America, which was used to pay his legal fees as cases against him mounted. Trump's campaign initially siphoned money from small-dollar donors to his legal fund, skimming 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 seeking help from major donors to give to his Trump 47 Joint Fundraising Committee. Donations to this committee will initially go to the Trump campaign – with a maximum contribution of $6,600 to his campaign and recount efforts – and up to $5,000 will then go to Save America. Only when this maximum amount is reached will the remaining money go to the RNC and the contracting states.

Important background

Harris entered the presidential race on July 21 when Biden announced he was leaving the race and endorsed the vice president minutes later. When she entered the race, she quickly reported huge fundraising numbers: her campaign logged $81 million in donations in the first 24 hours of launch, and the announcement of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her vice presidential running mate, has also boosted fundraising with the campaign reports. $36 million was raised in the 24 hours after the vice president's announcement. Biden's campaign committee was renamed Harris when he dropped out and endorsed her, and although Trump has challenged this with the FEC, his challenge is not expected to have any impact on the election. Her candidacy revitalized the presidential race as Biden faced mounting questions about his mental fitness and polls showed Trump ahead. The vice president's massive fundraising reflected broader enthusiasm for Harris on the left, which included an explosion of social media memes and thousands mobilizing for her campaign. Harris' fundraising successes came as Biden long held a fundraising lead over Trump throughout the campaign. In recent months, this figure has fallen even further as the Republicans ended their primaries and united around the ex-president. Trump first trumped Biden in April, when he was aligned with the RNC and his criminal trial was underway.