Harris Outpaced Trump in Campaign Fundraising in September

Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign closed September with a massive cash advantage over former President Donald Trump’s operation, according to new federal filings.

Between Oct. 15 and 20, the committees associated with the presidential candidates of both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party filed their penultimate financial disclosures ahead of the Nov. 5 general election. The documents showed Harris could tap into at least $91.9 million more in cash than Trump could at the end of September.

According to the filings, which included all principal campaign committees, political action committees, and joint fundraising committees, Harris’s accounts collectively held about $370 million at the end of September. By comparison, Trump’s associated PACs and committees entered the month with about $278.1 million in cash on hand.

Kamala Harris

On Sept. 10, Harris and Trump shared the stage in Philadelphia at the ABC News presidential debate. The candidates sparred on foreign and domestic issues while sharing few policy specifics.

Earlier in 2024, when President Joe Biden was still the presumptive nominee, his campaign and the Trump campaign eschewed the Commission on Presidential Debates, a bipartisan body that traditionally hosted three debates and a vice presidential debate in the closing weeks of the campaign season. Because of this, both campaigns were free to decline offers for additional televised debates organized by significant broadcast news networks.

All told, four committees associated with Harris’s campaign reported their September statistics at the end of October.

According to public records, the two committees reporting monthly—the principal campaign committee, Harris for President, and the hybrid PAC Future Forward, or FF PAC—raised about $325.9 million in September. The two spent $387.9 million during the month and closed September with about $257.7 million in cash on hand.

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Two committees reporting quarterly—the joint fundraising committees Harris Victory Fund and Harris Action Fund—told the FEC they brought in about $652.5 million between the beginning of July and the end of September. During the same period, those committees sent out about $603.4 million. They closed the quarter with about $112.3 million in cash on hand.

In September, Harris for President led the fundraising effort. The committee told the FEC it received $221.8 million in donations during the month.

As usual, the most significant individual donations went to Future Forward PAC, which collected about $104.1 million during the month. The biggest single donor to that account was a dark money group associated with the PAC.

According to its FEC filings, Future Forward received a $40 million donation from Future Forward USA Action on Sept. 25. Future Forward USA Action is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization. According to their documents filed with the FEC and the Internal Revenue Service, Chauncey McLean serves as both the treasurer of Future Forward and the president of Future Forward USA Action.

As a 501(c)(4), Future Forward USA Action is not required to reveal its donors nor the amount they give to the organization. According to its most recent filings with the IRS, the organization did not reveal its 2022 donors.

Donald Trump

In September, three committees associated with Trump issued monthly reports. Together, the principal campaign committee, Donald J. Trump for President 2024 Inc., the super PAC Make America Great Again Inc., and the qualified leadership PAC Save America raised about $104.8 million. During the month, the three spent about $120.9 million. They started October with about $182.7 million in cash on hand.

September was when Trump became the target of a second assassination attempt. On Sept. 15, Ryan Routh was spotted by a Secret Service agent pointing a rifle through a fence a few hundred yards away from where the GOP candidate was golfing at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida. The U.S. Department of Justice formally indicted Routh on Sept. 24 for attempting to kill the former president.

On Oct. 15, three Trump committees reporting quarterly issued disclosures. All told, the joint fundraising committees Trump 47 Committee Inc., Trump Save America Joint Fundraising Committee, and Trump National Committee JFC Inc. raised about $352.1 million in July, August, and September. Those accounts disbursed about $352.1 million during the quarter and entered October with about $95.4 million in cash on hand.

In September, Trump’s principal campaign committee collected the most donations for his campaign. Trump for President in 2024 brought in about $62.7 million.

As for individual donations, MAGA Inc. cashed the most significant checks in September. Once again, Republican megadonor Timothy Mellon, an heir to the Mellon family fortune, sent the group an eight-figure donation—$25 million—on Sept. 17.

In 2024, Mellon sent $140 million to MAGA Inc., 54 percent of the about $259.2 million MAGA Inc. raised this year.