Donations for Kamala Harris - No success without money: What a US election campaign costs
Fighting elections in the USA are extremely expensive. Only those who have the necessary funds can sustainably stay in the race. The influence of money on politics in the USA has been a big topic for a long time.
How much does an election campaign in the USA cost?
It goes into the billions. According to the organization Open Secrets, which documents campaign contributions, over 14.4 billion US Dollars (around 13.2 billion Euro) were spent in the 2020 election. Of that, approximately 5.7 billion dollars went to the Presidential campaign and 8.7 billion dollars to the concurrent election for seats in the US Congress.
Therefore, the election, at the end of which Donald Trump had to concede to Joe Biden, was more than twice as expensive as the race four years prior (around 2.4 billion dollars).
How does financing for a US election campaign work in general?
Direct donations to candidates and parties are limited. In general, large donations go to Super PACs, which are organizations that can accept unlimited funds and use them for advertising for specific candidates or political causes. The acronym "Pac" stands for "Political Action Committee". In addition, candidates finance expensive television advertising in this way. The identity of the donors is not always transparent. However, there are also many small donations from individuals.
What has been collected for the 2024 election so far?
According to Open Secrets and the US Federal Election Commission (FEC), all Presidential candidates - including those who have already dropped out - have reported combined income of 660 million US Dollars (approximately 606 million Euro) for election financing. Of that, about 215 million dollars went to Biden and 196 million dollars to Trump.
The donation amounts will certainly increase as the election date approaches. In the previous election in 2020, Biden raised approximately 1.1 billion dollars according to FEC data, while Trump raised around 790 million. For all Presidential candidates combined, it was more than 4 billion dollars.
What happens to Biden's collected donations?
Recently in the USA, there was discussion about whether the millions in donations that Biden and the new Democratic frontrunner Kamala Harris had collected together before Biden dropped out of the Presidential race could be simply given to someone else. Harris might be able to access Biden's campaign war chest and possibly also the collected Biden donations because she was a part of his re-election campaign.
How is it in Germany?
Nowhere else in the world do election campaign costs even come close to these levels - not even in Germany. For the SPD, the 2021 federal election campaign cost around 15 million Euros, according to Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz (SPD) in an interview with the "Süddeutsche Zeitung".
According to the Federal Center for Political Education, the SPD spent around 24 million Euros for the 2017 federal election, while the CDU and CSU together spent roughly 30 million. FDP, Greens, Linke, and AfD invested around three to 6.5 million Euros each.
- In the upcoming US Election 2024, total reported income for all presidential candidates, including those who have withdrawn, stands at 660 million US Dollars.
- The United States of America has a long-standing debate about the influence of money on its politics, with billions spent on election campaigns.
- Joe Biden, during his 2020 election campaign, received approximately 215 million dollars in direct donations and contributions.
- For the US Election 2020, over 14.4 billion US Dollars were spent, with Donald Trump and the US Congress races accounting for a significant portion.
- Campaign financing in the United States forbids direct donations to candidates and parties beyond certain limits, with a majority of funds directed towards Super PACs.
- Kamala Harris, as a part of Joe Biden's re-election campaign, might potentially access Biden's campaign war chest and collected donations due to their shared past association.
