USA Team Harris: 540 million dollars in donations collected

The campaign team of US Vice President Kamala Harris says it has collected donations totaling 540 million US dollars (around 482 million euros) since the start of her candidacy. The team spoke of a "record". More than 80 million US dollars were collected during the Democratic Party Convention in Chicago last week alone. The greatest support came after Harris' speech on Thursday evening (local time).

A third of all donations came from first-time donors, according to the Democrat's team. This indicates that Harris enjoys broad support among the party's base. Two thirds of first-time donors were women, the team added. The figures cannot be independently verified for the time being, but only when the campaign team submits its official financial report to the relevant authorities. Election campaigns in the USA are extremely expensive. Only those who have the necessary small change can stay in the race - and hold their own.

On July 21, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the presidential race and proposed his deputy Harris as a replacement. The 59-year-old was chosen as the candidate by the Democrats and officially accepted the candidacy in Chicago. Harris is running against Republican Donald Trump in the presidential election on November 5. It looks like a close race between the Democrat and the former president.