Grassroots enthusiasm fuels Kamala Harris’ record month of fundraising : NPR

Vice President Harris’ presidential campaign says it raised more than $310 million in July, driven by a record-breaking $200 million in the first week after she replaced President Biden as the likely Democratic presidential nominee.

Last month’s totals include a number of shattered fundraising records, the campaign says, including the fastest time to raise a billion dollars and the weeklong outpouring of donations after a struggling Biden said he would no longer run for president.

“The tremendous outpouring of support we’ve seen in just a short time makes clear the Harris coalition is mobilized, growing, and ready to put in the work to defeat Trump this November,” Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Harris for President campaign manager, said in a statement. “It is the product of a campaign and coalition that knows the hard work and fighting spirit needed to win in November – and when we fight, we win.”

Two-thirds of the donations made last month came from first-time donors, according to the Harris campaign.

The avalanche of contributions and grassroots enthusiasm for Harris heading into this month’s Democratic National Convention has virtually erased a fundraising and cash lead that Trump held over Biden this summer, but the former president’s financial picture is still strong.

Trump’s July fundraising numbers are among the largest he has seen, in a month that saw the former president survive an assassination attempt, have the classified document criminal case against him dismissed, and included a triumphant Republican National Convention where he announced Ohio U.S. Sen. JD Vance as his running mate.

The $139 million announced by his campaign Thursday is just under the $141 million in May when he was convicted in the New York hush-money case and an increase from June’s $112 million.

“These numbers reflect continued momentum with donors at every level and provide the resources for the final 96 days until victory November 5th,” the Trump campaign in a release accompanying the topline numbers.

Harris and Trump head into the final three months of the campaign with roughly the same amount of cash in the bank, with the vice president sitting on $377 million to Trump’s $327 million.

Both campaigns will need the money to compete in a battleground map that has expanded since Biden’s departure from the race, and both have launched multimillion dollar ad buys in those states this week.