Biden's Campaign Money Will Likely Go to Harris — but She Might Not Need It
Vice President Harris's election campaign has already raised more than $126 million.
Published July 26 2024, 7:21 p.m. ET
It's been chaos since President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race for reelection, despite voting day being less than four months away. After a poor performance at the first debate and a bout of COVID, it became clear that he wasn't the best fit to run against Donald Trump — or to sit in the Oval Office for another four years.
Vice President Kamala Harris, however, has had the full support of both President Biden and former President Barack Obama. She's not the official Democratic nominee just yet, but there have been quite a few influential figures rallying behind her.
Given that President Biden has been campaigning for his reelection for months before he dropped out, he has plenty of campaign funds that will no longer be used on him. So what happens to his campaign money?
What happens to Biden's campaign money now that he's not running?
In June, The Biden-Harris reelection campaign reported a whopping $96 million in funds, per The New York Times, though that's not the only money that was raised for the current president's reelection. In addition to that big number, there was an additional $144 million split between the Democratic National Committee and the various state Democratic Party funds.
That said, for the most part, none of this money has any issue with being rerouted to Vice President Harris's campaign.
As the original election campaign was for a ballot with Biden and Harris's names on it, so long as one of their names remains on the final ballot in November, there's no issue with it being transferred to Vice President Harris's campaign.
Officially, Vice President Harris is not the Democratic nominee for president — but with the rallying support she's garnered not just among big-name Democrats, but also among the public, it seems more and more likely she'll be the Democratic candidate.
Republicans plan to challenge Kamala Harris's access to the campaign funds.
Though there shouldn't be much issue with Vice President Harris using the funds raised for President Biden's reelection (or significantly less than there would be if another candidate were to take her place), some Republicans have made it clear they plan to push back against this, potentially preventing her from gaining access to those campaign funds.
Sean Cooksey, who currently holds the Republican-appointed chair for the Federal Election Commission, has already suggested online that the G.O.P will refute her access to those funds.
Citing the Code of Federal Regulation, Sean tweeted, "If the candidate is not a candidate in the general election, all contributions made for the general election shall be either returned or refunded to the contributors or redesignated ..., or reattributed ..., as appropriate."
That said, she would still have access to the money that's tied up with the Democratic National Convention and the various state Democrat funds, should she be officially selected as the nominee. She's also been actively fundraising online, already securing $126 million for her individual campaign since President Biden stepped down, according to The Washington Post. This number does not include non-profits that have also been raising money to advocate for her in swing states.
