Biden Campaign Holds More Than $141 Million in Cash: Filings

President Joe Biden delivers remarks while meeting with the Joint Chiefs and Combatant Commanders in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington on May 15, 2024. Win McNamee/Getty Images

President Joe Biden’s fundraising slowed down somewhat in April, but he is not in danger of losing his cash advantage yet.

On May 20, two of the funds associated with President Biden’s reelection campaign issued monthly disclosure statements to the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Those filings show that a portion of the president’s money machine raised more than $40.3 million in April.

Moreover, the two funds—the principal campaign committee Biden for President and the hybrid political action committee Future Forward—reported holding more than $141.5 million at the end of April.

However, the two committees raised less than the $43.8 million that Biden for President did in March.

In a May 20 statement, the Biden for President committee said the campaign collectively raised $51 million in April and ended the month with $192 million cash on hand. It’s unclear which funds raised that amount and where they were held. The Biden campaign could also be calling the Democratic National Committee’s fundraising its own.

When all of the committees associated with the Biden campaign reported their first-quarter activities in April, the Biden-affiliated committees told the FEC they had about $187.6 million cash on hand.

“April’s haul reflects strong, consistent grassroots enthusiasm ... and is giving us the resources necessary to invest in opening offices, hiring organizers, and communicating across our battleground states in order to mobilize the coalition of voters who will decide this election,” Biden–Harris 2024 campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said in a statement.

$10 Million in ‘Dark Money’

April was the first time Future Forward, formally FF PAC, sent a monthly statement to the FEC in 2024. The PAC, which previously reported quarterly, is closely tied to the 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization Future Forward USA Action.

During April, Future Forward raised about $16.2 million and spent about $678,000. The fund held more than $57.1 million cash on hand.

According to the FEC, Future Forward USA Action sent the PAC about $10.3 million on April 30. That donation brought its overall 2024 contribution to the Biden-allied PAC to about $10.9 million.

As a 501(c)(4) group, Future Forward Action USA is not required to disclose its donors. For this reason, 501(c) organizations are often called “dark money” groups.

According to its recent tax returns, Future Forward Action USA sent FF PAC about $60.3 million in 2020, about $3.4 million in 2021, and about $12 million in 2022.

Other Million-Dollar Donors

Future Forward’s April FEC filing also shows a $2.24 million contribution from Bright Future Fund made on April 19.

Little information is available about Bright Future Fund. The address listed in the donation form goes to Washington DC Registered Agent LLC, whose website states that the organization specializes in helping start and maintain businesses in the District of Columbia.

A representative of the agent old The Epoch Times that the company cannot share any information about its clients and cannot confirm whether it has a relationship with Bright Future Fund.

A super PAC called Bright Future Fund is registered with the FEC, but it had only $495 cash on hand when it last reported to the regulator in April. Moreover, the fund didn’t receive any money in 2023 or 2024.

According to its FEC registration statement, Bright Future Fund is run by Daniel Rubio and is based near the University of Maryland–College Park. According to donor records, Mr. Rubio gave $500 of the $1,000 it has raised since its formation in 2022.

LinkedIn Chairman Reid Hoffman at the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco on March 30, 2011. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Future Forward also collected another check from Democratic Party megadonor Reid Hoffman. Through the first four months of 2024, Mr. Hoffman gave $7 million to the PAC.

Mr. Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn Corp. and a partner at venture capital firm Greylock Partners, is a key backer of Democratic candidates and policy groups. According to watchdog group OpenSecrets, Mr. Hoffman is the sixth-largest individual donor of the 2023–2024 election cycle.

Joint Fundraising Committees Chip In

According to the FEC, Biden for President raised about $24.2 million and spent about $25.2 million in April. At the end of the month, it held about $84.5 million cash on hand.

According to its disclosure statement, the money came almost entirely from the joint fundraising committee Biden Victory Fund. The fund sent $24 million to Biden for President in April. It’s contributed $93.7 million through the first four months of the year.

The joint fundraising committee reports quarterly and will therefore not issue another disclosure statement until the middle of July. However, when it last reported, the fund said it had $41.1 million cash on hand at the end of March.

The Biden Victory Fund has received contributions of more than $900,000 from 24 donors, including Mr. Hoffman and leading figures in finance, technology, and entertainment.

Spending for November

According to political advertisement spending analysts, supporters of the Biden campaign are outspending their counterparts backing the Trump campaign by a vast margin.

According to a May 22 blog post published by the analytics firm AdImpact, Democrat-aligned advertisers focused on the presidential race spent about $186 million on ads that have already aired, or will air later in the year, since March. By comparison, Republican advertisers spent only $23 million.

According to AdImpact, FF PAC and its parent body, Future Forward USA Action, are spending heavily in support of President Biden. The two groups placed about $134.5 million in reservations for the fall and are targeting Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada, North Carolina, and Wisconsin.

Plus, according to numerous releases from Biden for President, the Biden campaign is making significant investments in offices and campaign staff in the same battleground states.

“Donald Trump and the [Republican National Committee] have closed battleground state offices, they have no organizing programs, negligible battleground staff presence, and virtually zero ads,” Biden for President said in a statement. “In battleground states, Republicans are sounding the alarm at the Trump campaign’s lack of staff, money, and battleground strategy.”