Kamala Harris breaks fundraising records in presidential race
The campaign team of Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate in the upcoming November presidential election in the USA, together with allied campaign committees, raised a record sum of one billion dollars in the third quarter of the year, according to data published by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
In September, Harris raised almost four times more than her Republican rival, Donald Trump.
Record amount for the campaign
According to FEC information, Harris's team raised $221.8 million in September, while Trump raised $62.7 million. This figure indicates that in less than three months of her campaign, the Democratic candidate received over $1 billion from donors, which, according to the "New York Times," is a record.
The data also shows that the Democrats spent significantly more money on the campaign—mainly on TV and online ads. Harris's team spent $222 million out of $270 million in September, while Trump's campaign spent $53 million out of $78 million. As a result, at the end of September, the Harris committee still had $187 million at its disposal, while Donald Trump's had $128 million.
Both campaigns are supported by various so-called Super PACs, campaign committees that support candidates but are not formally associated with them. These are often entities linked to billionaires.
Here's who supports Harris and Trump's campaigns
The Democratic candidate's campaign is supported by, among others, Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz, who contributed $10 million, cryptocurrency billionaire Chris Larsen (also $10 million), and the governor of Illinois and member of the wealthy Pritzker family, J.B. Pritzker ($5 million).
On the other hand, Trump's biggest donors include Miriam Adelson, the widow of casino magnate Sheldon Adelson; Anthony Mellon, heir to the banking magnate Andrew Mellon's fortune; and X CEO Elon Musk. These three alone contributed a total of $325 million to the campaign.
Despite the financial advantage of Harris's campaign, election polls still indicate an extremely close race and a virtual tie, with most recent polls suggesting a slight increase in Trump's ratings. According to an average of polls calculated by the "New York Times" in seven states that will effectively decide the presidency, Harris leads in three of them (Pennsylvania, Nevada, Wisconsin) by less than 1 percentage point, while Trump leads in the remaining four (North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, and Michigan) with a similarly small margin.
