Last week, Vice President Kamala Harris attended the Democratic National Convention in Chicago and officially accepted the Democratic presidential nomination. This not only means that she has taken an important step on her election path, but also means that it is more difficult to predict who will ultimately be the winner of the 2024 election.
Harris' campaign team announced last Sunday that in just over a month since Biden withdrew from the race and she took over the campaign, they have raised an astonishing $540 million, surpassing Trump's rate of fundraising.
According to a memo released by Harris' campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon, the $540 million fundraising includes $82 million Harris raised during the Democratic National Convention, demonstrating the party's support and expectations for her.
This is the most in any presidential election in the same amount of time, "the statement said.
In addition, according to a federal disclosure document released last week, Harris' main campaign fundraising team raised four times more funds in July than Donald Trump did.
Harris' campaign team told the Federal Election Commission that they raised $204 million last month, while the main fundraising group for Republican candidate and former US President Trump reported a figure of $48 million to the Federal Election Commission. This money includes funds raised from campaign events, the Democratic National Committee, and the Joint Fundraising Committee.
However, Harris' fundraising composition in July was quite unique. After US President Biden announced his withdrawal from the election on July 21 and supported Harris to take over, Harris quickly took over nearly $100 million of Biden's campaign funds. However, Harris' strength should not be underestimated: he raised a record breaking $81 million within 24 hours of his candidacy and $200 million in the first week.
On the other hand, Harris' expenses are also higher than those of Trump, at $81 million and $24 million respectively. Overall, as of the end of July, Harris' campaign had $220 million in cash, while Trump's campaign had $151 million in cash.
At the same time, the current situation of the US election is still very tight, and it is impossible to predict who will win. In various polls, Trump and Harris are still evenly matched. Over the next week, Harris and her running mate Waltz will embark on a bus tour in southern Georgia for their campaign.
In the national average poll tracked by the Hill/Decision DESK HQ (DDHQ), Harris' lead is not significant, with a support rate of 49.5%, while Trump received 45.9%.
Former US President Obama also commented last week that "in this highly divided country, this will still be a evenly matched race." Goldman Sachs predicts that Harris will ultimately win the November election, but will become a "lame duck president," meaning the Democratic Party will win a "divided government.