Vice President Kamala Harris created significant separation from former President Donald Trump in the fundraising portion of the 2024 presidential race in August, according to new federal filings.
On Sept. 20, a portion of the committees associated with the major presidential campaigns filed financial statements with the Federal Election Commission reflecting their fundraising. The documents showed the Harris campaign outraised the Trump campaign by about $145.1 million in August.
According to the incomplete financial picture presented by the monthly filings, Harris started September with access to about $319.7 million in cash. By comparison, Trump could tap into about $198.8 million at that time.
Harris Campaign Fundraising
August marked the first full month with Harris at the top of the Democratic Party’s ticket. On July 21, following weeks of pressure, President Joe Biden withdrew from the presidential race and endorsed his vice president to run in his place.Harris quickly won the Democratic Party’s approval and was formally named the nominee at the party’s convention in Chicago in August. The new candidate also appropriated all of the committees formally associated with Biden in a move that’s been challenged by Republicans.
Nevertheless, July’s returns showed a massive fundraising boost for Harris. In that month, the principal campaign committee, first known as Biden for President and now called Harris for President, raked in more than $204.4 million.
In August, Harris for President didn’t break the $200 million mark but came close. The committee told the Federal Election Commission it collected about $189.6 million while using about $173.8 million. Harris for President closed August with about $235.5 million in the bank.
It remains unknown how much the joint fundraising committees Harris Victory Fund and Harris Action Fund raised in August. The two bodies will issue financial disclosures in mid-October.
Harris’s main financial ally, the hybrid political action committee Future Forward, received about $36.9 million in contributions in August while spending about $77 million. The PAC entered September with about $84.2 million in cash on hand.
According to its filings, Future Forward received numerous six-figure donations in August.
The largest individual donor was Dustin Moskovitz, a co-founder of Facebook and the current CEO of Asana Inc. Moskovitz sent $3 million on Aug. 28.
Trump Campaign Fundraising
Trump’s August fundraising total was significantly smaller than his July amount. In July, the Trump ally Make America Great Again Inc., a super PAC, took in a $50 million donation that came in the first business day after an assassination attempt against the former president in Butler, Pennsylvania.In August, the principal campaign committee of Donald J. Trump for President 2024 Inc., MAGA Inc., and the qualified leadership PAC Save America collectively raised $69.5 million. The three groups spent about $153.7 million during the month and closed August with about $198.8 million in cash on hand.
Trump for President led the pack with $44.5 million raised in August. It also held the most cash of the Trump groups that filed disclosures on Sept. 20. It began September with $134.6 million in cash on hand.
MAGA Inc. cashed checks from a pair of Republican megadonors who backed another GOP candidate during the presidential primaries.
The super PAC reported it received $5 million from Paul Singer, the president of Elliot Investment Management, and $2 million from Warren Stephens, the president of Stephens Inc. Both men previously sent large donations to funds backing former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley when she was running against Trump.
Another GOP megadonor, Diane Hendricks, the chairwoman of Hendricks Holding Co. Inc., sent $10 million to MAGA Inc. According to OpenSecrets donor records, Hendricks was a major Trump booster in 2020.
