Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris (right) shakes hands with former President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during the presidential debate at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia on September 10, 2024.
Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images
Vice President Kamala Harris significantly outraised and spent more money than former President Donald Trump in August, according to new Federal Election Commission filings, helping her shore up a final cash boost in the run-up to the November election.
The Harris campaign raised more than $189 million in August, more than four times the $44 million raised by the Trump campaign.
These figures reflect fundraising specifically to the candidates’ main campaign accounts and do not include contributions to other political action arms.
The Harris campaign announced earlier this month that its joint campaign contributions with the DNC and its fundraising committees had totaled $361 million in August, far surpassing the $130 million raised by the Trump campaign and its joint fundraising committees.
Those figures don’t take into account donations in September, including a $47 million cash boost the Harris campaign received from nearly 600,000 donors in the 24 hours after the first, and likely only, Harris-Trump debate.
New filings with the Federal Election Commission show donor enthusiasm for Harris has been steadily growing, even as the initial excitement over the Democrats’ July candidate switch has subsided. Harris’s political efforts overall raised $310 million in July after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed her as the Democratic nominee.
Harris also tipped the contribution gap in Democrats’ favor, erasing the fundraising lead Trump and Republicans had before Biden withdrew.
Since then, Harris’ campaign has outspent Trump on television and digital advertising and other campaign expenses.
According to FEC filings, Harris and the Democratic National Committee collectively spent $258 million in August, far surpassing the $121 million spent by Trump and the Republican National Committee.
“As we enter the final stages of the campaign, we are committed to ensuring that every bit of hard-earned money is spent winning the support of the voters who will decide the outcome of this election,” Harris campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said in a press release earlier this month.
As the presidential election enters its final stretch, Harris’ campaign had $404 million in cash as of the end of August, surpassing the $295 million reported by the Trump campaign.
The Trump campaign has pledged that the donations will help it get through the rest of the race.
“The Trump-Vance campaign is gaining momentum as the race draws to a close,” Brian Hughes, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, said in a statement. “August’s fundraising numbers reflect that momentum.”