Vice President Kamala Harris has trailed former President Donald Trump in fundraising after raising a record $1.6 billion through various campaign committees, compared to $700 million for Trump.
In total, Harris has raised $928 million for her official campaign, $364 million for the Democratic National Committee and another $307 million for a joint fundraising committee, after accounting for transfers to her official campaign and other party committees, according to FEC filings up to and run through September. 30. That total, including funds raised when President Joe Biden was the party’s nominee, is a record amount for a presidential candidate.
On the other hand, Trump has raised $375 million for his campaign, $281 million for the Republican National Committee and $145 million for two joint fundraising committees, excluding transfers during the same period.
Harris beat Trump in fundraising for their official campaigns in September, bringing in $222 million, compared to the Republican’s $63 million. These numbers are both lower than the same period in 2020, when Biden raised $281 million and Trump raised $81 million.
Trump’s fundraising is significantly lower than when he ran for re-election in 2020. That’s largely due to his collapse among the small donors who once powered his political operation. Instead, Trump has relied on big-dollar donors and outside groups funded by his fellow billionaires, including Elon Musk, the richest man in the world.
Harris’ record fundraising campaign allowed her to do that Crush Trump in television commercials in September, while funding an extensive get-out-the-vote campaign. The Harris campaign has also dramatically outspent Trump on digital advertising and is dominating cable and radio advertising the Wesleyan Media Projectwhich tracks ad spend on campaigns.
The Harris camp’s September spending left the two campaigns with about the same amount of cash on hand for the final five weeks of the race. Harris had $50 million more than Trump on his various committees as of October 1.
Trump has consistently outpaced his Democratic opponent in his three attempts to win the presidency. In 2016, Hillary Clinton raised Trump $200 million in their respective official campaign committees. Biden also defeated Trump by $270 million. In either case, the Democratic fundraising advantage mattered little as Trump secured an Electoral College victory in 2016 and nearly repeated that feat in 2020.
