WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are neck-and-neck in the 2024 presidential election, according to a national poll. But with seven months left until voters cast their votes, Biden is outperforming his Republican opponent in another key metric: fundraising.
In March, Biden and Democrats reported holding more than twice as much cash as Trump and Republicans.
Money isn't everything. Nor does it necessarily determine the success of a campaign. But Biden's financial advantage has led Democrats to wage more aggressive campaigns, especially in a handful of Sunbelt and Midwestern battleground states where narrow swings in voters can decide the fate of a campaign. There is a possibility that it can be done.
To learn more about the contest, let's take a closer look at what we know about Biden and Trump's fundraising amounts to date.
Biden fundraising
In March, the Biden campaign was backed by a massive donation drive after the president's State of the Union address and a celebrity-filled fundraiser in New York City headlined by former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. It raised an astonishing $90 million.
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Monthly fundraising totals include contributions to the Democratic National Committee and Joint Fundraising Committee.
The paper said March was also the busiest month for grassroots fundraising since the campaign's inception. So far, 1.6 million people have donated to the Democratic incumbent's re-election bid.
Democrats reported having a total of $192 million on hand, more than double the $93.1 million Republicans reported.
The Biden campaign used the money to hire staff, open offices, spend days raising money in key battleground states and launch a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign.
trump's war chest
The Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee announced in March that they had raised $65.6 million. The RNC and his campaign have begun sharing resources since Trump won the necessary delegates to win the Republican nomination last month.
The former president is expected to raise another $43 million Saturday at a Palm Beach fundraiser hosted by billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson. Some of the money raised at the event will go to organizations that have spent tens of millions of dollars on Trump's mounting legal costs.
In addition to four criminal charges against him, Trump has also been convicted in two civil charges related to fraud and sexual abuse. The latter two judgments require the former real estate mogul to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in fines.
The former president has secured bail to protect his assets as he appeals a $454 million judgment in a New York civil fraud case for fraudulently overvaluing his real estate empire.
Also, columnist E. Jean Carroll posted $92 million bail to prevent collection of $83.3 million on her judgment as Trump sued for defamation victory.
Super PAC Save America is helping pay for these legal costs. Classified as a “leadership PAC,” it can only receive $5,000 from each donor per election cycle, but there are few restrictions on how the funds can be spent.
The Trump campaign said it would fall short of Biden's fundraising total in this election, and blamed the difference on Biden's “billionaire” supporters.
Who are Biden and Trump's biggest donors?
Although both Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump have touted small donations, large donations make up the bulk of the money they raise, according to open secret data. Here are some of the top donors, based on data from early March.
Biden's big donors
- $8.4 million from Future Forward USA Action, a hybrid super PAC that advocates for eliminating tax cuts for the wealthy.
- $3 million from Greylock Partners, a venture capital firm that supports technology startups
- $2.5 million from Sequoia Capital, a venture capital firm that backs technology companies
- $2.5 million from Euclid Capital, a hedge fund founded by billionaire James Simmons.
- $2.24 from Democracy PAC II, a super PAC targeting Texas voters backed by Democratic megadonor George Soros
President Trump's major donor
- $16.5 million from Timothy Mellon, heir to the Mellon Bank fortune
- $5.25 million from McMahon Ventures, an LLC owned by Linda McMahon, co-founder of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) with her husband Vince McMahon.
- $5 million from Hendricks Holdings, founded by conservative billionaire Diane Hendricks.
- $5 million from CrownQuest Operating, a Texas-based drilling company founded by Republican megadonor Tim Dunn.
- $5 million from real estate investor Robert Bigelow, who was instrumental in helping Ron DeSantis win the Republican presidential nomination.
Contributed by: Reuters; Francesca Chambers, Joey Garrison, Suhail Bhat USA TODAY
