Democratic Party donors have poured a record amount into US Vice President Kamala Harris\u2019 campaign in the 24 hours since Joe Biden stepped down from the White House race and endorsed his erstwhile running mate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTeam Harris raised $81 million in its first 24 hours, adding to the existing near quarter-of-a-billion dollar war chest already amassed this election cycle,\u201d her campaign said in a statement Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It claimed the haul was the \u201clargest 24-hour raise in presidential history.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Harris, 59, swiftly secured the backing of a flood of Democrats after receiving Biden\u2019s endorsement on Sunday \u2014 including from California Governor Gavin Newsom and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, both touted as top presidential contenders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She still needs to persuade key hold-outs and convince some donors who are urging for an open contest to select the Democratic candidate that will take on Republican challenger Donald Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But for now, her campaign appears to have energized large and small donors alike \u2014 a turnaround from the uncertain period after Biden\u2019s disastrous debate performance against Trump, when major donors reportedly halted fundraising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Monday, US media reported that Democratic super political action committee (PAC) Future Forward had locked in $150 million in donor commitments within 24 hours of Biden dropping out of the race, citing a senior aide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The super PAC held some $122 million in cash as at end-June, according to Federal Election Commission filings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Among the major names to back Harris on Sunday was LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He wrote on social media: \u201cI wholeheartedly support Kamala Harris and her candidacy for President of the United States in our fight for democracy in November.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Open Society Foundations chairman Alex Soros, son of billionaire philanthropist George Soros, also called for the public to \u201cunite around Kamala Harris and beat Donald Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Soros family are known to be mega-donors, spending tens of millions per election cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Evercore founder Roger Altman told CNBC on Monday that as a Wall Street donor, he would line up behind Harris as well \u2014 adding that he expects her campaign to be \u201cvery well-financed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSuddenly the Democratic base has gone from demoralized to excited,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Swing Left, a grassroots group which launched a fund for the eventual Democratic nominee on Sunday, told AFP it raised over $160,000 in less than 24 hours from some 1,500 unique donors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But others have urged an open selection process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Donor Vinod Khosla called for an \u201copen convention\u201d and \u201ca more moderate candidate\u201d in a social media post shortly after Biden said he would not run for reelection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another donor John Morgan wrote: \u201cYou have to be enthusiastic or hoping for a political appointment to be asking friends for money. I am neither.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
AFP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Democratic Party donors have poured a record amount into US Vice President Kamala Harris\u2019 campaign in the 24 hours since Joe Biden stepped down from the White House race and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11393,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_rishi_post_view_count":303},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","rishi-post"],"rishi__cb_customizer_meta":"","comments_count":"0","yoast_head":"\n