Harris Outraises Trump in Last Weeks of Election Season

Vice President Kamala Harris raised far more money than former President Donald Trump in the final days before the 2024 general election.

As required by the Federal Election Commission (FEC), the principal campaign committees backing both the Democratic and Republican presidential nominees disclosed each donation of more than $1,000 received between Oct. 17 and Nov. 4. The totals showed that Harris’s account pulled in nearly three times as much as Trump’s.

According to the sum of the 48-hour notice documents filed by the FEC, the principal campaign committee Harris for President raised about $29.2 million between Oct. 17 and Nov. 4. By comparison, the principal campaign committee Donald J. Trump for President 2024 Inc. raised about $10 million over the same period.

Those results are consistent with the final monthly filings the campaigns filed at the end of October. Those reports, reflecting fiscal performance from Oct. 1 to Oct. 16, showed the Harris campaign was collecting $3 for every $1 the Trump campaign received.

During the entire election season, from Jan. 1, 2023, to Nov. 5, 2024, the Harris campaign significantly outraised and outspent the Trump campaign.

The committee known as Harris for President was formerly backing President Joe Biden. In a controversial move, the Harris campaign claimed the Biden principal campaign committee and its hundreds of millions of dollars when she took over as the de facto and then official Democratic Party candidate in late July.

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According to the FEC, Harris for President raised a total of $997.2 million between Jan. 1, 2023, and Oct. 16, 2024. If the last-minute fundraising total were added to that amount, the Democrats’ total fundraising haul would be north of $1 billion.

On the other hand, Trump’s presidential campaign raised about $388.1 million during the same span.

The duplicate public records show that the Harris campaign spent about $880.2 million during the election cycle, while Trump’s campaign spent about $354.9 million.

These figures do not include all of the outside spending in support of and opposition to the presidential candidates. Over the past two years, multiple, well-financed political action committees and nonprofit organizations have spent heavily on the race for the White House.

According to political spending tracking firm AdImpact, about $1.6 billion was spent on advertising supporting either Harris or Biden during the election cycle. By comparison, about $932.5 million was spent on pro-Trump ads.

A report issued in October by watchdog organization OpenSecrets said Republicans were the primary beneficiaries of outside spending in 2024.

The OpenSecrets report said that the most prominent boosters of the candidates were Future Forward, or FF PAC, and Make America Great Again Inc.

FF PAC, a hybrid PAC working to boost Democrats with a special focus on the presidency, raised more than $394 million between the beginning of 2023 and the middle of October and spent $373.4 million during the same timeframe.

The most significant supporter of the PAC was the 501(c)(4) Future Forward Action USA. According to its most recent filing, FF PAC received a total of about $128 million from the nonprofit in 2024. In 2023, Future Forward Action USA sent FF PAC about $8.4 million.

According to the groups’ documents filed with the FEC and the IRS, 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 disclose its 2022 donors.

According to the FEC, MAGA Inc., a super PAC working to elect Trump. raised about $331.5 million between Jan. 1, 2024, and Oct. 16, 2024, and spent about $354.5 million.

The reclusive Mellon family heir, Timothy Mellon, was the primary sponsor of MAGA Inc. In 2024, according to federal records, he gave $140 million to MAGA Inc. Mellon also sent the super PAC $10 million in 2023.