Topline
Former President Donald Trump ended the first six months of 2024 with more cash on hand than his opponents, even as President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris raised more money — though the most recent figures suggest Harris has widened the gap over Trump since Biden dropped out and she picked Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate.
Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz appear on stage together during a campaign … [+]
Key Facts
The Biden—now Harris—campaign committee raised $284.1 million and Trump’s campaign committee raised $217.2 million in total between January 2023 and June 30, 2024, the most recent date for which Federal Election Commission filings are available.
Trump ended June with a cash advantage over the Biden/Harris campaign, however, with $128.1 million in cash on hand to the Democratic campaign’s $96 million.
Initial numbers from July suggest Harris has erased Trump’s cash advantage, with her campaign reporting it raised $310 million last month with $377 million in cash on hand—which also includes money raised by the Democratic National Committee and other affiliated groups—and the Trump campaign reporting it raised only $138 million between the campaign and affiliated groups, but has $327 million in cash on hand.
Harris announcing Walz as her vice presidential nominee has also fueled fundraising, with the campaign reporting Wednesday it raised $36 million in the 24 hours after the running mate was announced.
Biden’s campaign committee was renamed for Harris when he dropped out and endorsed her, and though Trump has challenged that with the FEC, his challenge isn’t expected to impact the election.
Many top donors also bankroll independent political groups like super PACs, which aren’t beholden to the FEC’s $6,600-per-person limit for direct campaign donations—and the picture for those groups is unclear since Harris entered the race.
Approximately $255.9 million had been raised by the top 10 political action committees supporting Trump as of June 30, as identified by OpenSecrets, which—since most of them are super PACs—can largely spend money on the candidate but cannot coordinate with the campaign directly.
Nine outside PACs that are now supporting Harris had raised $164.6 million as of June 30—though that’s before she announced her candidacy—which includes both super PACs and hybrid PACs that can donate some money directly to her campaign.
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Surprising Fact
Harris’ fundraising surge after she first announced her campaign surpassed the Trump campaign’s biggest donation bumps. The Trump campaign reported raising $52.8 million in the 24 hours after he was convicted on 34 felony charges in Manhattan in May, which led to the WinRed platform for small GOP donations temporarily crashing from the traffic. That was soon surpassed by the $81 million Harris raised in the first 24 hours of her campaign.
What To Watch For
We won’t know for sure how the two candidates’ fundraising matches up as of July until August 20. That’s when the campaigns will submit their FEC filings for how much they raised this month, which will show how much the campaigns took in themselves without the national parties and confirm the numbers they released are correct.
How Much Are The Parties Raising?
Democrats are also outraising Republicans at the party level, with FEC filings through June showing the Democratic National Committee has raised $285.9 million, while the Republican National Committee has raised $259.7 million. Like Trump, however, the RNC ended June with more cash on hand, reporting $101.6 million million in reserves to the DNC’s $78 million. There’s a decent chance Democrats have made up that cash gap, however, as reports from the Harris campaign on its record fundraising include donations to the national party.
How Much Are Harris And Trump Spending?
The Biden—now Harris—campaign has historically spent its cash earlier than Trump, reporting through June that it’s spent $189.7 million, versus $92.1 million by the Trump campaign. It remains to be seen how that trend will change now that Harris’ entrance into the race has tightened the gap between the two candidates, after Trump previously commanded a consistent lead. The ex-president’s campaign spent $12 million on ads in battleground states this week, which Axios reports is believed to be Trump’s biggest ad buy since the primary election.
Who Are Billionaires Giving To?
Billionaires have broken out their checkbooks for both candidates. Trump’s biggest donor is billionaire heir Timothy Mellon, who’s given an eye-popping $75 million to support the ex-president, and his other top billionaire supporters include Linda McMahon, wife of wrestling mogul Vince McMahon; energy executive Kelcy Warren; ABC Supply founder Diane Hendricks; oil billionaire Timothy Dunn and well-known conservative donors Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein. Tesla founder Elon Musk has also backed Trump through the newly formed America PAC, but he has denied reports saying he would donate $45 million per month to the super PAC. After Biden attracted billionaires like Michael Bloomberg and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, Harris has already got the backing of a number of wealthy benefactors herself, including Hoffman, Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, former Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg and philanthropist Melinda French Gates. More than 100 venture capitalists signed a letter Wednesday backing Harris’ candidacy and pledging to vote for her, which included such billionaires as entrepreneur Mark Cuban, investor Vinod Khosla and Lowercase Capital founder Chris Sacca.
Tangent
In addition to helping his campaign, Trump’s donors have also helped to finance his personal legal bills through his leadership PAC Save America, which has been used to pay his legal fees as cases against him have piled up. Trump’s campaign initially skimmed money from small-money donors for his legal fund, siphoning 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 soliciting help from bigger donors who give to his Trump 47 Joint Fundraising Committee. Donations to that committee first go to the Trump campaign—with a maximum contribution of $6,600 to his campaign and recount efforts—and up to $5,000 then goes to Save America. It’s only after that maximum has been reached that any money left over will go to the RNC and state parties.
Key Background
Harris entered the presidential race on July 21, as Biden announced he was leaving the race and endorsed the vice president minutes later. Her candidacy has reignited the presidential race as Biden faced growing questions about his mental fitness and polling showed Trump pulling ahead, with the VP’s enormous fundraising haul reflecting a broader enthusiasm about Harris on the left that’s also included an explosion of social media memes and thousands mobilizing for her campaign. Harris’ fundraising hauls come as Biden had long maintained a fundraising lead over Trump throughout the campaign. That narrowed more in recent months as Republicans have ended their primary and coalesced around the ex-president, Trump first outraising Biden in April as he joined forces with the RNC and as his criminal trial was underway.
