Former President Trump significantly outperformed President Biden last month, thanks in part to a surge following Trump’s conviction in his first criminal trial in New York.
Trump’s campaign announced that more than $50 million had been allocated to support him the day after the verdict was announced, contributing to his total. May helped eliminate the monetary advantage that Biden enjoyed throughout the election cycle, even though both candidates have plenty of money at their disposal.
Here are five takeaways from the Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings of campaigns this month:
Trump overtakes Biden
While polls have shown the race to be close or with Trump slightly ahead in key states likely to decide the election, one bright spot for Biden has been his fundraising totals.
No more.
That changed for the first time in April, when Trump surpassed Biden with $76 million, compared to the current president’s $51 million. And Trump widened the gap much more significantly in May, with a whopping $141 million to Biden’s $85 million.
The Trump campaign, along with the Republican National Committee (RNC), received 2 million donations last month, a quarter of which came from first-time donors. Meanwhile, the Biden campaign said May was the best for its operation with repeat donors so far.
Trump also now has more money in the bank, both in a direct comparison of candidates’ campaigns and when taking into account the Republican and Democratic national committee totals. FEC filings show that Trump and the RNC had $171 million in cash on hand, compared to $157 million for Biden and the Democratic National Committee.
Experts have noted that both candidates will have many millions of dollars to spend throughout their campaigns and a lack of funds will likely not be an issue, but these last two months mark a shift for Trump, having spent most of the cycle election behind Biden. money.
Trump’s conviction has supercharged donations
The first criminal conviction of a former president and presumptive major party presidential candidate last month was unprecedented in U.S. history, and fundraising numbers on both sides reflected that.
About $53 million, or more than a third, of Trump’s total fundraising in May came from online donations in the 24 hours after the Manhattan jury found him guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in his case. financial secrecy. It could be the only one of the four criminal trials Trump faces that will take place before Election Day.
But even as Trump supporters rallied around him in response to the verdict, Biden’s campaign also saw a bump in fundraising, with a source familiar with the matter telling The Hill that the campaign had its best fundraising yet. hours to date, after the jury revealed its verdict.
A verdict in one of Trump’s cases is, of course, an unusual event in the election calendar that may not occur again if the other cases are delayed, but it was a major contributor to Trump’s ability to plug the overall monetary deficit.
Vote Fundraising Is Heating Up
The battle for control of Congress is intensifying at the same time as the presidential race, demonstrated by the amount the parties’ campaign arms in the House and Senate raised last month.
Both the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) broke records for totals in a month of May. But the NRCC had the edge over the DCCC for the first time this year last month, raising $12.6 million compared to $11.9 million.
The NRCC also appeared to get a boost from Trump’s conviction, raising more than $1 million from small donors in the following days. A third of them had made no previous donations to the committee.
On the Senate side, the National Republican Senatorial Committee also led the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) in May with $12.4 million to $10.6 million.
Democratic committees still have more money on hand in early June. The DCCC led its Republican counterpart with $78.8 million to $64.9 million, while the DSCC led its counterpart with $48.3 million to $41 million.
Trump is saving a lot of his money
Although Trump significantly outperformed Biden in May, he also held onto his funds much longer than Biden, allowing him to enter June with more cash on hand.
FEC records show that Biden’s campaign spent $30.6 million last month, compared to just $7.9 million that Trump spent. The public won’t see the candidates’ total spending until next month, when their joint fundraising committees, which bring together multiple campaign committees into a more streamlined entity to raise money, are required to submit their FEC filings for the second quarter. 2024.
Biden’s campaign has said its spending allows it to build campaign infrastructure in key battleground states.
An ongoing financial issue that has plagued Trump for months and may continue is the exorbitant sums he has had to spend on legal fees. Trump’s fundraising committees spent about $50 million on legal fees throughout 2023 and have spent millions more throughout this year.
It will continue to be a financial thorn in Trump’s side despite the large sums he has raised recently, although keeping his funds for now will allow him to concentrate them closer to the election.
Billionaires step in to plug fundraising holes
Although FEC regulations set limits on how much an individual can donate to a specific candidate’s campaign, they do not restrict people’s ability to donate to super PACs that support a candidate but act independently of the campaign. And wealthy individuals are showing a willingness to spend large sums on both sides.
One of the most significant contributions last month was that of billionaire Timothy Mellon, who donated $50 million to a Trump-supporting super PAC, MAGA Inc. Mellon made the donation on May 31, the day after the New York verdict have been uttered. FEC filings show.
While Trump cannot determine where these funds go, they can be used to support his candidacy.
Biden is expected to get a boost from billionaire philanthropist and former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, who reportedly donated $19 million to a Biden-supporting super PAC called Future Forward. He also donated nearly $1 million to the Biden Victory Fund, Biden’s joint fundraising committee.
These funds and others from ultra-wealthy donors may not go directly to a campaign, but they still contribute to making the case for or against a candidate.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
