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Last month, Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee seemed to have gained a firm financial advantage over Democrats after trailing earlier this year. Following Trump\u2019s felony conviction on May 30 and President Joe Biden\u2019s rocky debate performance on June 27, money came pouring into his and the R.N.C.\u2019s war chests while Democrats burned through cash. As of the end of June, the Trump campaign had nearly $45 million more cash on hand than the Biden campaign did, according to filings with the Federal Election Committee.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But following Biden\u2019s announcement on Sunday that he was backing out of the race and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris, a historic wave of fundraising may have tipped the scales back in Democrats\u2019 favor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As of Monday afternoon, the Democratic fundraising website ActBlue reported it processed more than $100 million in donations online since the president made his announcement, according to the site<\/a>. Harris\u2019 campaign alone announced that less than 24 hours after launching, it had raised nearly $50 million<\/a> for the new candidate. On Sunday night, ActBlue posted on social media that it was the biggest fundraising day of the 2024 cycle.<\/p>\n UPDATE: As of 9pm ET, grassroots supporters have raised $46.7 million through ActBlue following Vice President Kamala Harris\u2019 campaign launch. This has been the biggest fundraising day of the 2024 cycle. Small-dollar donors are fired up and ready to take on this election \ud83d\udd25<\/p>\n \u2014 ActBlue (@actblue) July 22, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n To be sure, the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump<\/a> also likely sparked a surge in fundraising for the Republicans, although numbers for July won\u2019t be available until next month.<\/p>\n The flood of donations following Biden\u2019s endorsement of Harris throws another wrench in the fundraising landscape of the 2024 election just as Trump was beginning to gain momentum. The Trump campaign announced it raised over $52 million in the wake of his guilty verdict in the hush-money trial<\/a>, breaking a Republican record for single-day fundraising. In the second quarter of 2024, Trump and the R.N.C. outraised Biden and the Democrats $331 million to $264 million.<\/p>\n Although Democrats outraised Trump and the R.N.C. in June, they also spent heavily on advertising in a month that unraveled their presumed nominee. The Biden campaign burned through 93% of the cash it raised in June<\/a>, compared to just 46% for the Trump campaign. As of the most recent FEC filing, the Trump campaign had $128 million in available cash, while Biden had just under $96 million.<\/p>\n It isn\u2019t just the former president\u2019s campaign that\u2019s seen a donation dump in recent weeks. The R.N.C has gotten a major boost since Trump became the party\u2019s presumed nominee leading up to last week\u2019s convention. Between the end of May and the end of June, the committee nearly doubled its cash on hand to $102 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n All told, between the Trump campaign, its fundraising affiliates, and the R.N.C., Republicans had $281 million available at the end of June, while Biden and the Democrats had about $237 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n The big question now will be whether Harris\u2014or some other candidate the Democrats tap to be the nominee at next month\u2019s convention\u2014will have access to the $96 million available for Biden<\/a>.<\/p>\n If Harris is the nominee, the answer appears to be a fairly straightforward \u201cyes.\u201d Because she was the president\u2019s running mate, Harris and Biden already share a campaign committee, meaning she has access to the existing funds if she\u2019s on the November ticket as either candidate for president or vice president, according to a note from former FEC Chairman Trevor Potter<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very clear,\u201d Dara Lindenbaum, a current FEC commissioner, told the New York Times<\/em><\/a>. \u201cIf Kamala Harris is the Democratic presidential nominee, she gets to use all the money in the account.\u201d<\/p>\n If Harris isn\u2019t the nominee, the fate of Biden\u2019s war chest is less clear. The FEC limits candidate-to-candidate contributions to $2,000 per election, Potter explained in the note. The Biden\u2014or rather, Harris\u2014campaign could issue a refund to donors, or potentially transfer the funds to the Democratic party.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n