Joe Biden’s presidential campaign and joint fundraising committees are expected to report raising more than $300 million in August, setting a new monthly record for presidential fundraising, according to two sources familiar with the Democratic nominee’s fundraising efforts.
The massive cash haul flooded in last month as Biden announced his vice presidential pick, California Senator Kamala Harris, and officially accepted his party’s nomination in the first-ever virtual Democratic National Convention.
The record-shattering cash haul comes as Biden and President Trump are just over 60 days away from the presidential election on November 3. The New York Times was the first to report the $300 million figure on Tuesday.
The haul more than doubles what the Biden campaign and joint fundraising entities raised in July. In comparison to previous campaign cycles, in August 2016, Hillary Clinton’s campaign and joint fundraising committees announced raising $143 million. And in 2012, President Obama’s reelection campaign and the Democratic National Committee brought in $114 million that August and $181 million in September. In September 2008, Obama and the DNC together raised $193 million, which was the former record for fundraising in a single month.
On August 11, Biden revealed Harris would be his running mate after months of speculation. In just 24 hours following the announcement, the campaign raked in $26 million. It was the campaign’s best fundraising day to date. And 48 hours later, the campaign said it had brought in $48 million, including $39 million online, showing grassroots momentum heading into the final few months before the election.
Less than a week later, Democrats kicked off the Democratic National Convention. That week, Biden for President and its joint fundraising entities, brought in another $70 million in just four days, more than the $60 million the Biden campaign brought in across all of 2019.
Biden’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment on its fundraising.
At the same time, the Trump campaign, Republican National Committee and joint fundraising entities raised $76 million over the course of four days during the Republican National Convention last month. The president’s campaign has not yet announced how much money was raised over the entire month.
In July, the Trump campaign and committees outraised Biden’s campaign and committees by about $25 million, with $165 million compared to the Biden campaign’s more than $140 million. However, the Biden campaign that month still managed to nearly close the gap in cash on hand with the president’s campaign, reporting a $294 million war chest heading into the final months of the campaign cycle, just $6 million shy of the Trump campaign and RNC’s $300 million.
Presidential campaigns and political parties have a September 20 deadline to file August fundraising numbers and expenses with the Federal Election Commission.
