US Vice President and 2024 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris waves as she arrives to speak on the fourth and final day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, August 22, 2024. | Photo credit: AFP
Kamala Harris’ US presidential campaign said on Sunday (August 25, 2024) that they have raised more than half a billion dollars in just one month, “a record for any campaign in history.”
The staggering $540 million, raised since Ms Harris launched her campaign after President Joe Biden dropped out of the White House race and endorsed her on July 21, comes as she and her Republican rival Donald Trump are engaged in the final 10-week campaign until election day on November 5.
Mr Trump, whose campaign collapsed after Mr Biden withdrew, reported in early August that he had $327 million in cash on hand.
“We have officially crossed the $500 million mark,” campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said in a memo just before Ms Harris took the stage at the DNC to accept her party’s nomination on Thursday (August 22).
“Soon after his speech, we saw our best fundraising ever since launch day,” he added.
“In less than a month after launching our campaign, Team Harris-Walz raised $540 million — a record for any campaign in history.”
The amount reflects funds raised by the campaign, the Democratic National Committee and joint fundraising committees, the statement said.
O’Malley Dillon reported that one-third of those donations came from first-time contributors.
Ms Harris’s campaign appears to have enthused large and small donors alike — a shift from the period of uncertainty that followed Biden’s disappointing debate performance in June, when major donors reportedly paused fundraising.
A “virtual army of volunteers” also appears to have been organized, according to O’Malley Dillon, and a large number of grassroots activists have signed up for the conference.
“Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s battlefield infrastructure remains incredibly sparse,” he added.
Ms Harris and Mr Trump are tied in polls less than three weeks before their September 10 debate in Philadelphia.
Ms. Harris, 59, a former California senator and prosecutor, emerged from the Democratic convention in Chicago with momentum, outpacing Trump and erasing the polling lead she had before replacing Biden on the Democratic ticket.