US Vice President Kamala Harris has pulled in more than $1bn in fundraising since becoming her party’s presidential nominee in July, according to US media reports.

While the Harris campaign has yet to disclose the exact total, several sources familiar with the figures, cited by The New York Times and NBC News, confirmed she has surpassed the $1bn mark. It includes funds directed to her campaign as well as to related Democratic Party committees.

The dizzying fundraising surge gives Harris far more cash than her Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, to spend in the final leg of a neck-and-neck race.

In August, Trump and the Republican Party brought in $130m, leaving them with $295m in cash available compared with Harris and the Democrats’ $404m.

Harris is also poised to greatly exceed Trump’s September fundraising total of $160m, having raised $72m from three end-of-month events, reports The New York Times.

However, Republicans are making up some ground via super political action committees (PACs), organisations that can pool unlimited funds for candidates without directly coordinating with their campaigns.

So far in the 2024 election cycle, the largest super PAC supporting Trump has outspent the largest super PAC backing Harris by tens of millions of dollars, according to OpenSecrets, a nonprofit focused on campaign finance and transparency.

Too close to call
Harris’s deep campaign war chest is likely to boost her advertising and operations in battleground states in the month before the November 5 elections, which polls show is currently a toss-up.

While Harris retains a slight national lead in the polls, most of the seven key swing states that could decide the election are too close to call.

A new poll by InsiderAdvantage for Pennsylvania, the swing state with the greatest potential to sway the election, shows Trump up by two points.

Harris had to race to build campaign infrastructure and woo donors after replacing 81-year-old President Joe Biden as her party’s nominee in July.

Source: Al Jazeera 

BDST: 1031 HRS, OCT 10, 2024
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