Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign said she raised a whopping $310 million in her fundraising efforts in July – more than double the amount raised by her Republican rival last month – and has $377 million in cash in hand, marking the latest sign of how transformative the shift to the top of the Democratic ticket has been among popular supporters and the wealthy alike.
The majority of that $310 million in fundraising, more than $200 million, was raised in the first week of Harris’ candidacy, the campaign said in a statement, with two-thirds of the fundraising coming from first-time donors to the campaign. campaign.
President Joe Biden announced he would not seek re-election on July 21, endorsing Harris the same afternoon. Harris quickly consolidated the party’s support and gained enough delegate support to win the nomination the following night.
Before Biden’s decision to step aside, Democratic donors expressed deep concerns about the president’s viability as a candidate, withholding large checks and forgoing planned fundraising events.
July’s numbers signal a remarkable turnaround and more than double former President Donald Trump’s fundraising this month: Trump’s campaign announced Thursday that his political operation raised $138.7 million in July, with $327 million cash on hand.
Still, July was a strong fundraising month for Trump, as he accepted his party’s nomination at the Republican National Convention, announced his running mate, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, and survived an assassination attempt.
July’s fundraising was the second month in a row that Democrats outperformed Trump’s team, and the surge in donations pushed Democratic fundraising above the $1 billion mark — the fastest a campaign has surpassed that threshold in history presidential election, according to Harris’ team.
Harris’ campaign said July also marked the “best grassroots fundraising month in presidential history,” with 94% of her donations under $200.
“This is a historic feat for a candidate who will make history in November. The tremendous outpouring of support we have seen in a short space of time makes it clear that the Harris coalition is mobilized, growing and ready to work to defeat Trump in November,” Harris campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said in a statement, adding that the Campaign money “goes to the work that wins close elections.”
The campaign also highlighted some key demographic trends seen in July giving: more than 10 times the number of Gen Z donors contributed compared to June, and more than eight times the number of millennial donors than the previous month. Sixty percent of donors, the campaign noted, were women. And as several coalition groups organized Zoom calls in recent days, the campaign noted that groups “like Black Women for Harris, Latinas for Harris and, yes, White Guys for Harris have raised more than $20 million for Team Harris.”
Harris’ team has more than 260 coordinated campaign offices and more than 1,400 coordinated campaign staffers in swing states, he said.
The money raised by Harris’ political operation in July falls short of the record set in September 2020, when Biden’s campaign and the Democratic Party raised $383 million, but it highlights how quickly her surprise candidacy changed the trajectory of fundraising for the party.
The challenge Harris faces: sustaining the blistering pace of fundraising.
“These are unprecedented amounts to be raised in such a short period of time,” said Brendan Glavin — deputy director of research at OpenSecrets, which tracks political money — of the $200 million Harris raised in the first week of her candidacy. But, he added, “the campaign will have to maintain momentum and convince donors to continue giving through the fall, when fundraising is traditionally at its peak.”
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