WASHINGTON ― Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton raised $143 million for her presidential campaign and the Democratic Party in August, according to a release from the campaign.
The fundraising haul came from the combined efforts of Clinton’s official campaign committee and two joint fundraising committees, Hillary Victory Fund and Hillary Action Fund. The latter two raise money for the Clinton campaign and Democratic Party committees. The Clinton campaign took in $62 million while $81 million was directed to the Democratic National Committee and various state parties.
According to the campaign, the three Clinton committees started September with $152 million cash on hand. This includes $68 million for the official Clinton campaign committee and $84 million parked in the two joint fundraising committees.
“Thanks to the 2.3 million people who have contributed to our campaign, we are heading into the final two months of the race with the resources we need to organize and mobilize millions of voters across the country,” Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook said in a statement.
The overall total is quite a bit more than the $110 million raised by President Barack Obama in August 2012 for his re-election campaign and the joint fundraising committee linked to various Democratic Party committees. Clinton has the advantage of a more favorable legal environment for fundraising.
In 2014, the Supreme Court eliminated aggregate campaign contribution limits in its McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission ruling. This allowed donors to make maximum donations to as many candidates, party committees and political action committees as they desired. The key impact for Clinton has been a joint fundraising committee ― Hillary Victory Fund ― connected to the Democratic National Committee and 32 state parties.
Obama’s joint fundraising committee was connected to six state parties and the DNC. It could not direct more than $70,800 to them from a single donor. With donations capped at $10,000 for each state party and $30,800 for the DNC, that meant donors could not fully max out to all six state parties. Now they can make that $10,000 donation to all 32 of the state committees linked to Clinton’s joint fundraising committee.
Additionally, Congress slipped an expansion of party contribution limits into the 2014 omnibus budget bill that passed in the post-election lame duck session. This change created three new party accounts at the DNC that could accept a maximum annual donation of $100,200 per donor. This has meant that a maximum contribution to the DNC via the Hillary Victory Fund could be $334,000.
The campaign of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has not yet announced its fundraising haul for August.
