Vice President Kamala Harris’ political team has raised $1 billion since entering the presidential race in late July, two sources familiar with the figure told CNN – marking a massive fundraising milestone in her campaign against former President Donald Trump.
Other presidential candidates, alongside their political parties, have exceeded the $1 billion mark in past elections. But Harris has crossed that threshold at a breakneck pace, underscoring how much her ascension to the top of the Democratic ticket roughly two-and-a-half months ago has transformed the finances of this year’s White House contest.
“It’s clear that Harris has done something absolutely unprecedented,” said Sarah Bryner, research director at the nonpartisan group OpenSecrets, which tracks money in elections.
The Harris campaign declined to comment. Presidential campaigns will report full details of their September fundraising and spending to the Federal Election Commission later this month.
The surge in giving has helped Harris rocket past the sums collected by Trump’s campaign. His team has announced collecting roughly $430 million jointly with the Republican Party during the three months between the start of July and the end of September.
At this rate, the former president could struggle to even match what his political operation raised during the 2020 campaign, OpenSecrets’ researchers noted in a report this week.
Outside super PACs funded by wealthy Republicans are helping Trump to bridge the financial gap. A Trump-aligned super PAC, Make America Great Again, Inc., has led outside spending in the presidential race. But a super PAC affiliated with Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and a prominent Trump backer, has plowed more than $79 million into this year’s elections.
The $1 billion figure for Harris was first reported by NBC News.
Read the full article here
