WASHINGTON: United States Vice President Kamala Harris’ election campaign said on Sunday (Jul 28) that it has raised US$200 million and signed up 170,000 new volunteers in the week since she became the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate.
President Joe Biden ended his re-election bid last Sunday and endorsed Harris for the Nov 5 vote against Republican former president Donald Trump.
“In the week since we got started, @KamalaHarris has raised US$200 million dollars. 66 per cent of that is from new donors. We’ve signed up 170,000 new volunteers,” Harris’ deputy campaign manager, Rob Flaherty, posted on X.
Polls over the past week, including one by Reuters and Ipsos, show Harris and Trump essentially tied, setting the stage for a close-fought campaign over the 100 days left until the election.
Trump’s campaign said in early July that it had raised US$331 million from April through June and had US$284.9 million in cash on hand.
Harris has secured support from a majority of delegates to the Democratic National Convention, likely ensuring she will become the party’s nominee for president next month.
“So our vice president is the presumptive nominee. We will have the official vote on Aug 1,” Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison told MSNBC on Sunday.
Biden withdrew from the race amid questions about his age and health following a faltering debate performance against Trump in late June. Biden pledged to remain in office as president until his term ends on Jan 20, 2025.
Harris’ takeover has re-energised a campaign that had faltered badly amid Democrats’ doubts about Biden’s chances of defeating Trump or his ability to continue to govern had he won.
Polls showed that Trump had built a lead over Biden, including in battleground states, after Biden’s disastrous debate performance.
A New York Times and Siena College national poll published on Thursday found Harris has narrowed what had been a sizable Trump lead while Trump had a two percentage point lead over her in a Wall Street Journal poll published on Friday.
A Reuters-Ipsos poll published on Jul 23 showed a two-point lead for Harris.
Mitch Landrieu, a campaign co-chair, said on MSNBC that Harris “had one of the best weeks that we’ve seen in politics in the last 50 years”.
“This is going to be a very close race,” he said.
