Kamala Harris sets fundraising record, narrows poll gap
According to data published by the Federal Election Commission (FEC), the campaign team for Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate in the upcoming November presidential elections in the United States, and allied election committees raised a record sum of one billion dollars in the third quarter of the year.
In September, Harris raised nearly four times more than her Republican rival, Donald Trump.
Record amount for the campaign
According to FEC data, Harris's team raised $221.8 million in September, while Trump raised $62.7 million. This means that in less than three months of her election campaign, the Democratic candidate received over one billion dollars from donors, which according to "The New York Times" sets a record.
The data also shows that Democrats spent significantly more on the campaign, mainly on television and online advertising. In September, Kamala Harris's team spent $222 million out of 270 million USD, while Trump's team spent 53 out of 78 million dollars. As a result, at the end of September, Harris's committee still had 187 million dollars at its disposal, while Donald Trump's had 128 million dollars.
Both campaigns are supported by several so-called Super PACs, election committees that support candidates but are formally unconnected with them. These are often entities associated with billionaires.
Here's who supports the Harris and Trump campaigns
The Democratic candidate's campaign is backed by Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz, who contributed 10 million USD, cryptocurrency billionaire Chris Larsen (also 10 million), and Illinois Governor and Pritzker family member J.B. Pritzker (5 million).
On the other hand, Trump's largest donors include Miriam Adelson, widow of casino magnate Sheldon Adelson; Anthony Mellon, heir to the banking magnate Andrew Mellon's fortune from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, and X portal head Elon Musk. The three of them alone contributed 325 million dollars to the campaign.
Despite the financial advantage of Harris's campaign, election polls still indicate an extremely close race and a virtual tie, while recent weeks have suggested a slight increase in Trump's ratings. According to "The New York Times" calculated polling average in seven states that will practically 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) by a similarly small margin.
