Former President Donald Trump’s huge May fundraising haul erased President Joe Biden’s longstanding cash advantage as the two gear up for a rematch.
Trump’s campaign had $116.6 million in the bank at the end of May, compared to $91.6 million for Biden.
It wasn’t due to poor fundraising on the incumbent’s part — Biden’s campaign saw a decent fundraising rebound in May after a weak showing the month prior. But Trump’s fundraising while he was on trial in New York that month, punctuated in the final days when he was convicted, was enough to surpass Biden in campaign cash, something that had long been seen as a crucial strength of his.
The latest campaign finance filings with the Federal Election Commission also revealed how Biden has continued to build out his campaign apparatus, while Trump has largely held onto cash. And down-ballot races are also heating up, with party committees and other outside groups bringing in — and spreading around — more cash than before.
After months of a relatively sleepy start, the real money race has begun.
Those are among the takeaways of the campaign finance reports filed by presidential campaigns, party committees and a handful of other groups on Thursday. The reports covered all activity for the month of May.
Biden was counting on a cash advantage. Trump wiped it out.
Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee said they raised $141 million in May, a figure that included the significant fundraising boost after the former president’s criminal conviction on hush money charges (The full breakdown behind that number won’t be available until mid-July, when Trump’s joint fundraising committees file their own reports.)
But the former president’s campaign filing Thursday showed a significant surge in the final two days of the month — the day the jury handed down a guilty verdict and the day after.
Just looking at large-dollar donations, the campaign reported receiving at least six times as many daily donations those two days compared to a typical day. And the fundraising spike was likely even greater, considering that doesn’t include unitemized donations of less than $200 or any donations that the joint fundraising contributions hadn’t yet transferred.
In total, Trump’s campaign and the RNC reported just over $170 million cash on hand combined at the end of May, overtaking Biden and the Democratic National Committee, which reported just shy of $157 million.
While Trump’s New York trial and conviction did drive grassroots fundraising, the strong numbers from last month also reflected traditional Republican donors ramping up their donations as the general election cycle kicked off.
The pro-Trump super PAC Make America Great Again Inc. raised nearly $70 million in May. But the bulk of that total was a single $50 million donation from Timothy Mellon, a longtime GOP donor who had already given the super PAC $25 million since the start of last year. (Mellon has also given $25 million to a super PAC backing Robert F. Kennedy Jr.) The super PAC also received $5 million each from Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein, longtime GOP megadonors.
Biden’s fundraising rebounded — but he spent far more than Trump
Biden’s operation said it raised $85 million in May across his campaign, the Democratic National Committee and two joint fundraising committees — a significant rebound from the prior month, when it raised just $51 million.
The incumbent president’s campaign also spent more than $30 million, according to its report filed late Thursday, up from $25 million the previous month and nearly four times as much as Trump’s campaign spent over the same period.
Ad buys and media production accounted for roughly two-thirds of that spending total, but Biden also outspent Trump heavily in a range of other expense categories, such as payroll, on which Biden’s campaign spent nearly $3.8 million compared to $176,000 for Trump. Part of that disparity likely reflected some rejiggering on the Republican side, as many staffers recently paid directly by Trump’s campaign are now on payroll at the RNC instead. But it also reflects how Biden’s campaign has built out a much more robust — and more expensive — campaign infrastructure.
Of course, Trump now has the cash available to match Biden’s campaigning. The question for the rest of the summer will be how his campaign chooses to use it.
RFK Jr. (and his allies) are pressed for cash
Kennedy’s campaign has struggled for months to raise cash, and things appeared to get even more dire last month.
The campaign spent considerably more than it raised in May amid a fundraising slowdown, and even the primary super PAC backing him — which can take unlimited funds from wealthy donors — reported raising a measly $281,000 for the month, though it still had more than $19 million in the bank.
Kennedy’s lagging fundraising presents challenges on several levels. First, it suggests that Kennedy largely hasn’t been able to significantly grow his support beyond the base that liked him from the start. It also comes at a time when presidential fundraising typically picks up, with Biden and Trump both reporting strong fundraising months. But Kennedy, who also failed to qualify for next week’s CNN debate, isn’t building any momentum.
And of course, lack of fundraising could create very practical challenges for Kennedy and his allies. Campaigning down the stretch will require significant resources, but it’s not clear whether Kennedy will have them.
Down-ballot Republicans pick up the pace
As general election campaigning picks up in down-ballot races, both House Democrats’ and House Republicans’ campaign arms said they set new May fundraising records. And for the first time this year, the National Republican Congressional Committee outraised its Democratic counterpart.
The House GOP’s campaign arm brought in $12.6 million to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s $11.9 million, which was the Democrats’ second-lowest monthly fundraising total this year since its $9.5 million January haul.
The windfall after the Trump verdict likely helped Republicans. The NRCC noted in a press release that it “raised over $1 million from small-dollar donors in the days following” Trump’s conviction, demonstrating how Trump’s fundraising prowess is trickling down-ballot.
Still, the DCCC has raised more so far this cycle and retains a significant cash advantage — it had $78.8 million in the bank at the end of May compared to $64.6 million for the NRCC.
Senate Republicans’ campaign arm also outraised the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee last month, $12.4 million to $10.6 million. The National Republican Senatorial Committee has outraised the DSCC every month this year. But the DSCC maintains a slight cash advantage — $48.3 million to $41 million.
AIPAC’s spending is broader than previously known
The biggest pro-Israel group continued to flex its muscle: The American Israel Public Affairs Committee directed major funds toward its endorsed candidates in two major Democratic primaries in May, raising $890,000 for George Latimer, who is challenging Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), and $818,000 for Wesley Bell, who is challenging Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.).
AIPAC did not raise more than $140,000 for any other single candidate in May, reflecting how those two primaries continue to be the group’s highest priority. Its affiliated super PAC, United Democracy Project, made a splash in congressional races over the last month — including Bowman’s — by spending heavily.
AIPAC also quietly funneled money into a congressional race in May — but the source of the funds, after much speculation, has only now become public.
Two super PACs that spent big in an open Democratic congressional primary in Oregon this year got money from an AIPAC affiliate. The groups, 314 Action Fund and Voters for Responsive Government, spent nearly $5.5 million combined boosting State Rep. Maxine Dexter and attacking former Multnomah County Commissioner Susheela Jayapal, who had the backing of national progressives. Dexter won the primary convincingly and is set to cruise to victory in the safe Democratic district where Biden won by almost 50 points in 2020.
Last month, The Intercept reported the link between AIPAC and 314, which the group pushed back on. Dexter’s primary opponents also took issue with the spending during the campaign and accused 314 of being funded by Republicans — a refrain that progressives often use as an attack against AIPAC.
Thursday’s filings showed that Voters for Responsive Government received $1.3 million from United Democracy Project, while 314 Action Fund received $1 million. Both donations were made on May 1 — a day after the monthly disclosure deadline that would have led the source of the funds to be disclosed ahead of Oregon’s May 21 congressional primary.
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