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Campaign Report
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Where the Trump-Harris fundraising battle stands |
Former President Trump and Vice President Harris are locked in a tight race for the White House, according to the polls, but their fundraising numbers shed light on another aspect of the jaw-clenching battle. |
Harris has a substantial money advantage as she enters the final two months of her blistering battle against Trump, after she raised nearly $150 million more than Trump in the month after entering the race.
The two candidates are neck and neck in the latest national polls, with The Hill/Decision Desk HQ aggregate showing Harris at a slight 3.7 percentage point lead. Neither candidate has a lock on the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House, and they have been aggressively campaigning in key swing states.
Harris’s late-entry shake up to what was essentially an even cash race has added a new factor to the election’s potential outcome. Her money lead could impact how many ads voters see before they head to the polls. Harris’s campaign reported having a more than $100 million cash-on-hand lead over her Republican rival as of last month.
Democrats have raised $678.2 million in campaign cash to Trump’s $309.2 million since January 2023, according to the most recent Federal Election Commission filings.
Harris’s campaign raised $361 million in August alone and has $404 million in cash on hand going into the last two months before Election Day, according to the latest figures.
Official fundraising figures for September won’t be released until next month.
Harris’s campaign said it received $47 million in the 24 hours after her only debate against Trump on Sept. 10, with nearly 600,000 donors contributing during that period. But the debate did little to move the voter outlook, according to polls.
During the first hour of the debate, a campaign official told The Hill that 71 percent of grassroots donations going to Harris came from women as the vice president hammered Trump on reproductive rights issues. Harris also got a big boost after pop super star Taylor Swift announced she would be voting for the Democrat.
“Will you join Taylor Swift in supporting Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign?” Harris's campaign said in an email, asking for a $25 donation, shortly after the Swift endorsement. The Trump campaign raised $130 million in August, which was also fueled by donations of less than $200. Trump’s team reported having $295 million in cash on hand at the end of the month. |
Welcome to The Hill’s Campaign Report, I'm Liz Crisp. Each week we track the key stories you need to know to stay ahead of the 2024 election and who will set the agenda in Washington. |
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Key election stories and other recent campaign coverage: |
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The U.S. Secret Service said Wednesday it is investigating a misconduct allegation against one of its employees and has placed them on leave. “The U.S. Secret Service Office of Professional Responsibility is investigating a misconduct allegation involving an employee,” the agency said in a statement to The Hill. “The Secret Service holds its personnel to the highest standards. The employee has been placed on administrative … |
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Former President Trump will return to the site of his attempted assassination earlier this year with a rally in Butler, Pa., the campaign announced on Wednesday. The Oct. 5 visit will mark Trump’s first return to the site where his ear was grazed by a bullet and a rally attendee died in a July shooting just ahead of the Republican National Convention. Trump pledged later that month to return to the site after the incident … |
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Pop star Chappell Roan said Wednesday in a TikTok post that she will vote for Vice President Harris, but not endorse the Democratic presidential nominee. “So, yeah, I’m voting for f—ing Kamala,” Roan said in her post. “But I’m not settling for what has been offered.” Earlier in her post, Roan said she doesn’t agree with all of the left’s policy proposals. “Like, obviously, f— the policies of the right, but also f— some … |
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Upcoming news themes and events we're watching: |
- 5 days until a federal shutdown if Congress doesn’t act.
- 6 days until the vice-presidential debate.
- 41 days until the 2024 general election.
- 117 days until Inauguration Day 2025.
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© AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite |
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) went on Bravo’s “Watch What Happens LIVE!” with host Andy Cohen Tuesday night, and she left few clues about her future political aspirations, despite being named as a potential Democratic presidential nominee.
“I always knew it had to be the vice president, and I’m so glad she wanted to do it and has risen to the occasion,” she said of Vice President Harris’s ascension to the top of the party’s presidential ticket after President Biden ended his reelection campaign. “I couldn’t be more happy with the ticket.” Three words to describe Harris, Whitmer said, would be: “badass, ready, exciting.”
As for Harris’s running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Whitmer said he’s among her closest political friends.
“Tim is spectacular. He’s just a down to earth Midwesterner,” she said. “He’s just a good dude.”
Whitmer said she’s focused on continuing her term as governor through 2026 and wouldn’t speculate on being named to a future Harris administration role, if the vice president wins the November election.
“I don’t know what the heck I’m gonna do next,” Whitmer said.
Asked what her “Real Housewives” tagline would be if she were to join the Bravo roster, she made a play on former President Trump’s slight against her: “Some people call me ‘That Woman from Michigan,’ I call it ‘Getting s--- done!’”
On her unusual nickname “Big Gretch”: “I love it. You can call me ‘Big Gretch.”
Dressed in bright pink, and wearing her signature magenta lipstick, Whitmer was plugging her new book “True Gretch.” Here are some of her quick responses from the show:
- First concert she went to: “New Edition.”
- Go to late-night snack: “Cheese and crackers.”
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Best karaoke song: “I don’t sing.”
- Willie Nelson would be in her “dream blunt rotation.”
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Branch out with a different read from The Hill: |
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Former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) said the state’s GOP gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson is a “ticking time bomb” who might tip the presidential election results. “I got a feeling about a month ago, the Trump campaign was finding out that there could be some dirty laundry on Robinson,” McCrory said during a Wednesday appearance on CNN, noting the Trump campaign had been “avoiding” Robinson, the … |
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said former President Trump should be taken seriously when he pledges to go after his political enemies if elected to another term in office. “I think he has shown by his prior actions that you can take him at his word,” Romney told The Atlantic staff writer McKay Coppins in an interview published Tuesday. “So, I would take him at his word,” he added. The remarks followed a conversation in which, according … |
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Local and state headlines regarding campaigns and elections: |
- ‘Big mistake’: South Florida Haitians slam Trump’s false claim about immigrants eating pets (Miami Herald)
- Election-related scam calls in Nevada are increasing as November looms (Las Vegas Review Journal)
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Kind gesture or vote buying? Trump’s cash gift to Pennsylvania grocery shopper sparks heated debate (PennLive.com)
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Election news we've flagged from other outlets: |
- With ads on IGN, Harris and allies make a push for the gamer vote (The Washington Post)
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Mark Zuckerberg Is Done With Politics (The New York Times)
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Could an Alleged Affair on Long Island Affect the Control of Congress? (Wall Street Journal)
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Democrats won complete power in Michigan. Republicans are trying to take it away. (Politico)
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Key stories on The Hill right now: |
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Comments from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sparked a second day of ire from GOP figures, with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) demanding he fire the country’s ambassador to the U.S. while a House panel launched an investigation after suggesting a recent appearance by Zelensky amounted to election meddling. House Oversight Chair … Read more
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Vice President Harris now holds a 7-point lead over former President Trump, according to a new national survey. The survey, conducted by Reuters and Ipsos, found Harris leading with 46.61 percent support compared to Trump’s 40.48 percent, rounding to a 47-40 gap. That margin was slightly higher than the 5-point advantage over Trump the … Read more |
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Opinions related to campaigns and elections submitted to The Hill: |
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You're all caught up. See you next time! |
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