Kamala Harris’ campaign team raises over $100m in two days

Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign raked in more than $100 million between Sunday afternoon and Monday evening, the campaign said early Tuesday. Harris launched her campaign after President Biden ended his bid for reelection and endorsed her on Sunday.

The eye-popping haul includes money raised across Harris’ campaign, the Democratic National Committee and joint fundraising committees, and underscores the vice president’s enormous financial advantage over any potential challengers for the Democratic nomination.

The campaign said earlier it took in $81 million in the 24 hours after Mr. Biden dropped out. It was the largest amount of money raised in a 24-hour span in presidential history, according to Team Harris.

The campaign said more than 888,000 grassroots donors contributed in that 24 hour span and for 60% of them, it was their first contribution of the 2024 election cycle. A call hosted by the group “Win with Black Women” brought in $1.6 million alone, Team Harris said.

The $100 million haul came from more than 1.1 million unique donors, including 62% first-time donors, according to the campaign..

“The historic outpouring of support for Vice President Harris represents exactly the kind of grassroots energy and enthusiasm that wins elections,” said Kevin Munoz, spokesperson for Harris’ campaign. “Already, we are seeing a broad and diverse coalition come together to support our critical work of talking to the voters that will decide this election.”

Munoz said there is a “groundswell” of support for Harris. Alan Solomont, the former ambassador to Spain and a top Democratic fundraiser, told CBS News, “I have gotten several emails [from donors] saying let me know when I can contribute to the Harris campaign.”

Steve Israel, a former Democratic congressman from New York and former chair of the House Democrats’ campaign arm, serves on the DNC platform committee. He said earlier this week he expected a “fairly efficient consolidation” around Harris, “who has the most advanced infrastructure and fundraising advantage.” Democrats, he said, are making “a realistic assessment that with 107 days before the election, we don’t have a long runway to get our campaign airborne and at full speed.”

Jon Henes, who was the finance director for Harris’ 2020 presidential campaign and is today one of her biggest fundraisers, said, “I had over 400 texts, e-mails, and phone calls from people saying, ‘I want to raise money. I want to donate money. Let’s go with this. How can I help?'”

“I actually see this short amount of time between now and the election to be a good thing,” Henes says, “because we are all coming together as a party.”

Ray McGuire, president of the financial firm Lazard and one of Wall Street’s top Black executives, predicted, “Many Wall Street leaders will rally to support her. They recognize what’s on the line. The credibility she has will resonate from Wall Street to Main Street.”

“Harris is an impressive talent who happens to be a Black woman. She has a proven track record with President Biden of getting support for strategic initiatives that are fundamental to America’s survival,” McGuire said, pointing to initiatives such as the CHIPS and Science Act.

The vice president officially launched her presidential campaign on Sunday, hours after Mr. Biden announced he would be exiting the 2024 presidential race. The president quickly endorsed Harris for the Democratic presidential nominee and a slew of other high-profile Democrats swiftly announced their backing for the vice president. The Biden campaign quickly filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission renaming itself “Harris for President.”

By Monday evening, Harris secured the support of at least 27 state delegations — surpassing the majority of Democratic delegates she will need to win the Democratic presidential nomination. If those endorsements hold, delegations will officially nominate Harris for president during a virtual roll call early next month, ahead of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Among those who have thrown their support behind Harris are rising stars in the party who were considered possible successors to Mr. Biden, including Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The president’s withdrawal from the campaign came after dozens of Democrats urged him to step aside in the wake of his disastrous debate performance in late June. His showing in the face-off with Trump raised concerns about his fitness for a second term in office and whether he could defeat the Republican presidential nominee in November.

Trump’s campaign previously reported raising $331 million in Q2, compared to $264 million raised by the Biden campaign in that quarter.