Trump and Harris campaign donations: four key takeaways

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Federal filings show Kamala Harris raised $500mn more than Donald Trump in the third quarter as the two candidates head into the final stretch of the US presidential campaign.

The data, released late on Tuesday, reveal political donations for the third quarter of the year and provide the public with a better sense of the balance sheets for the two candidates, who are running neck-and-neck in the polls.

Here are four takeaways from the campaign disclosures.

Harris raised more than Trump in the quarter

Harris’s entry to the race on July 21 electrified Democrats, who were anxious about Joe Biden’s acuity and dispirited by polls suggesting the 81-year-old president was losing to Trump.

It came just after Trump survived an assassination attempt on July 13. Weeks later, the two presidential nominees held their sole debate on September 10.

Overall, Harris’s campaign and affiliated groups were able to attract more donations in this period, raising $870mn, compared to Trump’s $366mn.

Trump’s 2024 small-dollar operation lags behind 2020

Trump’s support among small-dollar donors — those who give $200 or less — appears to be weakening. Overall, the former president has attracted 2.7mn donors, about 300,000 fewer than he had at the same point in his 2020 campaign, according to WinRed data.

Trump’s small-dollar operation also seems to be slowing from earlier this year. In the three-day period after May 30, when he was convicted in the New York hush money trial, his campaign received more than 1mn donations. But only about 300,000 people donated over the three days after he survived the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Harris-Biden 2024 has out-raised Biden-Harris 2020

Political groups supporting Harris — and Biden before he stepped aside — have raised $1.68bn this year, which is about as much as Biden-Harris groups raised over the entire 2020 cycle. That total includes money donated to super Pacs, the so-called political action committees that can accept unlimited donations but are not allowed to co-ordinate activities directly with candidates.

Harris is also on track to attract more small donors than Biden did in 2020. Her campaign received more than 600,000 donations on each of the first two days after the president stepped aside on July 21 — more than he attracted on any single day of his 2020 campaign.

The vice-president also received more than 400,000 donations when she officially accepted the nomination at the Democratic National Convention on August 22, and at least 500,000 more after she selected Tim Walz as her running mate on August 6.

Trump is more reliant than Harris on billionaires and super Pacs

Just three people — billionaires Elon Musk, Miriam Adelson and Dick Uihlein — made up roughly a third of Trump’s fundraising for the quarter, together contributing $220mn to help narrow his funding gap with Harris.

The filings show Adelson, a philanthropist and longtime Republican donor, gave $95mn to Preserve America; Tesla chief executive Musk donated about $75mn to America Pac; while shipping supplies magnate Uihlein gave about $49mn to Restoration Pac.

Trump has increasingly relied on billionaire-funded groups to pay for traditional campaign functions, such as paying for ads and knocking on doors. One pro-Trump group, Make America Great Again Inc, has spent tens of millions on the former president’s legal bills. 

A clearer picture of both candidates’ reliance on super Pacs will emerge on October 20, when Maga Inc and Future Forward, the main pro-Harris super Pac, are expected to disclose their figures for September.

In the first two months of the third quarter, Maga Inc raised $79mn, while Future Forward raised $67mn.

Meanwhile, the Trump campaign and affiliated committees have raised a total of $1.41bn this election cycle, with nearly half coming from super Pacs, according to the latest financial disclosures. The Harris and Biden campaigns and affiliated groups have raised $1.68bn, with about 20 per cent coming from super Pacs.