Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and her party entered July with nearly USD 11 million more on hand than her Republican counterpart's operations, a strong showing of fundraising as both campaigns dive into the general election.
Republican nominee Donald Trump also zeroed-out more than USD 47 million in personal loans he's made to his own campaign since last year. Trump and the Republican Party, which officially selected Trump as its White House contender Tuesday, had USD 41 million cash on hand compared with Clinton and the Democrats' USD 52 million.
New campaign finance reports released yesterday reveal the state of the 2016 money race as candidates and their supportive groups turn their attention to the November election. Fundraising has historically been a key metric in a campaign's financial health, with funds paying campaign staffers and pricey TV ads.
Despite being outraised by Clinton, Trump had more appeal among small donors. He raised more than USD 12.1 million from contributors giving USD 200 or less, since making his first-ever appeal for online contributions on June 21. That small-donor harvest was about double Clinton's, despite Trump's late start.
Trump's haul comes after a disappointing May report, during which the billionaire's campaign finished with only USD 1.3 million to spend. With Trump and Clinton now becoming the official nominees, they'll be able to make use not only of their campaign funds but also much of the money raised by their respective parties.
On the GOP side, the Republican Party made up about half or roughly USD 21 million of the available cash on hand. For the Democrats, Clinton's own fundraising accounted for most of the money left in the bank at the beginning of July. She had USD 44 million to spend.
Clinton is expected to be formally nominated next week at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
As with the 2012 election, "super" political action committees are adding to the financial might of both candidates. Outside political groups backing Clinton reported a money advantage over similar committees behind Trump.
