Harris’ cash edge funds advertising blitz as Elon Musk cuts big check to House Republicans, new filings show

Following a month of grassroots fundraising that set a new record for a first full month as Democratic presidential nominee, Kamala Harris headed into September – and the final weeks of the presidential campaign – with much more available campaign cash than Donald Trump. At least, fresh federal filings suggest that.

The national Democratic committees focused on the battle for Congress saw their fundraising efforts soar. The party arm trying to make the United States House of Representatives blue also brought in more than double what its Republican counterpart did in August. However, the campaign arm of the Republican Party in the House of Representatives received a donation from billionaire Elon Musk in the six-figure range last month. This comes as the party works to defend its razor-thin majority in the chamber.

At the same time that Democrats are riding a surge of donor enthusiasm, the most recent filings with the Federal Election Commission showed that certain key outside groups were ratcheting up their activity. Additionally, a leading pro-Trump super PAC unleashed a tremendous wave of independent expenditures to assist Republicans in closing the gap.

Harris’ surge

Harris has erased all of Trump’s short-term economic gains over the summer. Meanwhile, the former president managed to raise more money than Vice President Joe Biden in the final two months of the campaign after Biden withdrew from the race in late July In August, the Vice President raised a solid nearly $190 million directly for him and his campaign. That compares with more than four times the $44.5 million the Trump campaign said flowed into his main campaign account that month.

In August, the Harris campaign spent more than $174 million, a far bigger total than that expended by the Trump campaign. The largest proportion of that amount was actually devoted to advertising: $135 million, in an effort to introduce the newly minted nominee of the Democrats within a time frame that has shrunk to an alarming degree. Payroll accounted for around $6.4 million, and text-messaging outreach for around $4.5 million.

In comparison, the amount spent by the Trump campaign in the last month totaled $61 million, with the most significant amount being more than $47 million in media expenditure.

While spending was running wild, Harris’s main campaign account had an available balance of $235 million at the start of September-in plenty of money, and far more than the $135 million still remaining in the coffers of Trump, according to the most up-to-date figures from the Federal Election Commission.

The late Friday night filings give only a single glimpse into the financial strengths of the contenders.

And last but not least, related to the Trump and Harris campaigns, are a number of committees, disclosing on separate timetables. According to the announcement made by Harris’ broader network, it had raised a combined total of $361 million in August. This figure is roughly three times higher than the $130 million that Trump’s organisation said it brought in.

Since Harris has been so successful in fundraising, Democrats have been able to gain a big advantage in advertising bookings this fall, especially in areas that are considered to be important battlegrounds. And the presence of the former president on social media is being overshadowed by the vice president and her allies.

A CNN examination of data provided by the ad-tracking firm AdImpact reveals that Democrats have spent a total of $137 million across digital platforms since Harris effectively became the party’s standard-bearer in late July. This amount is more than triple what Republicans spent on digital channels.

Party power

According to released campaign reports, contributions from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, a subsidiary of the group involved in House races, surpassed its counterpart in the Republican Party, the National Republican Campaign Committee increased significantly, $22.3 million to 9 Friday .up to $7 million.

Additionally, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) entered the month of September with a greater amount of cash on hand, amounting to $87.3 million as opposed to $70.8 million for the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC). These money have the potential to play a significant role in the extremely close struggle for the House of Representatives, where Republicans are defending a small majority.

Some of the most notable donors attempting to help stem the tide of House Republicans who have flipped to Democrats are billionaires, and one of them is Elon Musk. In August, he donated a total of $289,100 to the House GOP campaign apparatus, according to filings. This is the biggest official pay cheque that Musk has disclosed so far this cycle as he upped his donations to the Republican Party.

In July, the billionaire of the software and the world’s richest man, Musk, endorsed Trump. The super PAC that Musk helped found has been intensively involved in the presidential campaign, spending over $40 million since mid-August. Here he is, spending more than $22 million on a door-to-door campaign to fulfill a special mission for Trump. CNN previously reported that the Trump campaign has decided to donate a significant portion of its ground game efforts to non-campaign organizations.

In the previous month, party groups that were focused on Senate elections raised amounts that were comparable. The National Democratic Senatorial Committee raised $19.2 million, and the National Republican Senatorial Committee brought in $19.1 million. Spending includes the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, at $31.6 million, and the National Republican Congressional Committee at $26.5 million.

Both raised less than they spent. The Democrats maintain a very narrow advantage in the House, but they’re in an inhospitable environment this year as they’ll defend many seats in states that tend to prefer Trump.

Outside groups

The ability of Harris to raise money has resulted in a network of other organisations that are supporting the former president being put under pressure to assist in closing the money deficit. According to its monthly report, MAGA Inc., a significant super PAC that supports Donald Trump, spent more than $88 million on independent expenditures on behalf of the campaign of the former president just in the month of August.

These expenditures funded a blitz of television advertising. MAGA Inc. has spent more than it has in any other month of this year, and it has spent approximately twice as much as it did in the month of July.

A variety of affluent donors contributed a total of $25 million to the super PAC in the past month. These donors include Wisconsin rooftop billionaire Diane Hendrix, who gave $10 million, and billionaire investor Paul Singer, who gave $5 million. At the end of August, it had $59.4 million in cash on hand.

On the Democratic side, the first pro-Harris super PAC, FF PAC, reported raising about $37 million last month. A whopping $30 million came from Dustin Moskovitz, the co-founder of Facebook and a wealthy investor. This was by far Moskovitz’s highest federal donation of the election cycle. Over seventy-seven million dollars were spent by the super PAC in the month of August, with almost sixty-two million dollars being spent on independent expenditures to support the candidacy of the vice president.