Who Raised Most Funds in the 2024 Presidential Race and Does It Matter?

Over $2.5 billion has been raised between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris during their campaigning period for the 2024 presidential election.

The Details: The Harris-Walz campaign has raised over $1.39 billion, including some funds from President Joe Biden’s campaign before he ended his run for re-election. The Trump-Vance campaign has fallen short of this number, raising $1.09 billion.

For Context: Presidential campaigns' spends have grown exponentially over the years, in part due to inflation. However, this is not to be seen as a definite indicator of how states will vote. For instance, in the 2016 presidential race, Hillary Clinton out-raised Trump by $336.5 million, yet Trump won the election.

How the Media Covered It: Outlets on the left, such as the Washington Post (Lean Left bias), tended to focus more on the areas in which this funding is pouring out, concentrating especially on the registered voters in urban areas who were “about twice as likely to give to Harris” than to Trump. Sources from the right, like the New York Post (Lean Right bias), focused on the large campaign spending numbers, citing commentary that assures the large numbers are only possible because of how much more divided the country seems to be on political issues when compared to past generations.

Common Ground: Outlets from left to right have shown consensus that fundraising is only one part of the equation, and that results ultimately lie with voters.