Will the 2024 presidential election be the most expensive ever? Based on July’s fundraising numbers, it could be by Election Day in November.
Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign announced it raised $204 million in July. That is four times more than the $48 million reported by the Trump campaign. When the campaign and party totals are combined, it brings Harris to $310 million and former President Donald Trump to $138 million.
According to Reuters, there is an important difference between money raised by the campaign and money raised by the parties. The campaigns by law get discounts on TV advertisements while the parties have to pay full price.
Harris spent significantly more than Trump too. According to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), the Democratic nominee’s campaign shelled out $84 million compared to the Republican’s $24 million.
Campaigns like to talk about small donors and funding from ordinary people, however, the ultra-wealthy are also giving tens of millions of dollars each month to super PACs.
Timothy Mellon, heir to the Mellon banking fortune, gave $50 million in July to the Make America Great Again super PAC, which supports Trump. That brings Mellon’s total political contributions this cycle to $150 million. He’s given to Trump, RFK Jr. and other organizations.
Michael Bloomberg, who made his fortune with his information services company, gave $10 million in July to the House Majority PAC, which focuses on helping Democrats. Bloomberg gave $20 million in May to the Future Forward PAC when President Joe Biden was the nominee. That same PAC now supports Harris.
So, will this presidential election set a new spending record? According to OpenSecrets the candidates have so far raised more than a billion dollars. The 2020 presidential election is the current record holder, with $5.7 billion spent on the Trump-Biden matchup.
