Harris campaign says it's raised US$540 million and saw a surge of donations during the convention

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U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign says it has now raised US$540 million for its election battle against Republican nominee former U.S. President Donald Trump.

The campaign has had no problems getting supporters to open their wallets since President Joe Biden announced on July 21 he was ending his campaign and quickly endorsed Harris. The campaign said it saw a surge of donations during last week's Democratic National Convention in Chicago where Harris and her vice presidential running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, accepted their nominations.

“Just before Vice President Harris’ acceptance speech Thursday night, we officially crossed the US$500 million mark," campaign chair Jen O'Malley Dillon wrote in a memo released by the campaign on Sunday. "Immediately after her speech, we saw our best fundraising hour since launch day.”

Trump has also proven to be a formidable fundraiser, but appears to be outpaced in her month-old campaign. Trump's campaign and its related affiliates announced earlier this month that they had raised US$138.7 million in July — less than what Harris took in during her White House bid’s opening week. Trump’s campaign reported US$327 million in cash on hand at the start of August.

The Harris fundraising totals were raised by Harris for President, the Democratic National Committee, and joint fundraising committees.

O'Malley Dillon said that nearly a third of contributions during convention week came from first-time contributors. About one-fifth of those first-time contributors were young voters and two-thirds were women, groups that the campaign sees as critical constituencies that Harris needs to turn out to win in November.

The Harris campaign says it has also seen a surge in volunteer support for the vice president. During convention week, supporters signed up for nearly 200,000 volunteer shifts to help the campaign.