Biden piles cash into DNC, state parties and his campaign in third quarter

President Joe Biden’s 2024 campaign, the Democratic National Committee and a joint fundraising organization that raises money for Democrats’ state parties collectively raised more than $71 million in the third quarter, according to Biden’s re-election effort.

The amount is on par with what the operation raised in the second quarter, which was $72 million, when the campaign itself brought in $20 million. Biden’s team did not disclose how much money the campaign committee specifically raked in this quarter, which will be disclosed in a filing with the Federal Election Commission later Sunday.

The campaign touted nearly $91 million cash on hand across its fundraising entities as it prepares for a massive re-election effort.

Historically, Biden long struggled to raise significant money for past campaigns, but he set a record in 2020 when he became the first candidate for any federal office to raise more than $1 billion from donors, who stampeded into his race against then-President Donald Trump.

Last election cycle, Biden started out raising money into his campaign alone, amid a primary fight with nearly two dozen other Democrats seeking the party’s nomination. 

Now, he enjoys the benefits of running as an incumbent, with his political operation bolstered by a fundraising agreement with the DNC and state parties that allows donors to give as much as $929,600 apiece for the so-called Biden Victory Fund, which then parcels the money out across different entities. 

The Biden effort reported over 240,000 new donors this quarter who did not give to the campaign in 2020. And it doubled the number of those who have signed up to give every month, to more than 112,000 people.

“We are especially proud of our efforts to exponentially grow our grassroots donor base, now having over a hundred thousand Americans signed up to donate on a recurring basis from now until Election Day,” campaign manager Julie Chávez Rodriguez said.

The combined $71 million is more than any Republican campaign haul, with the Biden effort including a party apparatus fully behind him and multiple entities, some of them with higher contribution limits. 

Trump’s campaign, which has raised the most money on the GOP side, previously announced more than $45 million raised in the third quarter; it did not detail how the money was divided between his campaign and a PAC that has been covering fees in his legal cases.

DNC Chair Jaime Harrison said, “While Republicans continue to raise less money and bleed costs in a divisive primary, we are building the infrastructure necessary to aggressively reach voters with our message and compete in the general election.”

The money is going toward sustaining paid media, investing in staff hires in early states and building organizing programs in key battleground states, according to the campaign.