Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign has raised a record $US540 million (around $AUD797 million) since launching last month, with mostly women donors.
Following a surge boosted by the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Harris’ campaign funds now amount to “a record for any campaign in history”, according to a memo from her team on Sunday (AEST).
Last week’s convention saw Harris deliver her most important speech yet, accepting her official nomination for president, during which her campaign raised $US82 million.
“Just before Vice President Harris’ acceptance speech Thursday night, we officially crossed the $500 million mark,” campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon wrote in a memo. “Immediately after her speech, we saw our best fundraising hour since launch day.”
“This is the most ever for any presidential campaign in this time span,” she added.
It seems women are Harris’ biggest supporters, with two-thirds of the first-time donors identifying as female, according to her campaign team.
Teachers and nurses also continue to be among the most common donor professions
In total, O’Malley Dillon said that nearly a third of contributions during convention week came from first-time contributors, with about one-fifth of those first-time contributors being young voters.
The Harris campaign says it has also seen a surge in volunteer support for the vice president. During convention week, supporters signed up for nearly 200,000 volunteer shifts to help the campaign.
Harris announcing Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her vice presidential nominee was also influential in fueling fundraising, with the campaign reporting it raised $36 million in the 24 hours after her running mate was announced.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s fundraising efforts have fallen behind Harris. Trump’s campaign and its related affiliates announced earlier this month that they had raised $138.7 million in July, which less than what Harris took in during her White House bid’s opening week. Trump’s campaign reported $327 million in cash on hand at the start of August.
Black women supporting Harris
It’s a well-known fact for US campaigners that one of the most powerful voting electorates is black women. Historically, the votes of black women have heavily swayed election results, meaning many analysts are looking to see which way this group will swing in November.
Back in 2008 and 2012, 96 per cent of Black women voted for Barack Obama, providing the margin he needed to win two presidential terms. And in 2020, 90 per cent of Black women voted for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in 2020 securing the administration’s win.
In this 2024 election cycle, there looks to be strong support among Black women voters who want to see Harris become the first Black female president.
When president Joe Biden first announced he was pulling out of the race for a second term, a group of Black women from the grassroots group ‘Win with Black Women’, held a Zoom call with 44,000 participants that raised $1.5 million for Harris’ campaign.
Many activists saw this as the start of a brewing movement of Black women joining forces to help Harris secure a historic win in November. Thousands of Black women organisers across the country are mapping out voter registration efforts and planning conference calls, campaign events and fundraisers.
A less reliable voting demographic for Democrats, white women have also stepped up to support Harris. Weeks after the ‘Win with Black Women’ group call, a similar event was held by a group of white women, which raised $US11 million ($16.8 million).
“We are here because BIPOC women have tapped us in as white women to step up, listen and get involved this election season,” said one of the participants.
“This is a really important time and we all need to use our voices and influence for the greater good. No matter who you are, you are all influencers in some way.”