Kamala Harris is inheriting the tens of millions of dollars that filled Joe Biden’s campaign coffers.
Biden’s presidential campaign formally renamed itself “Harris for President,” according to paperwork filed with the Federal Election Commission within hours of Biden’s announcement. The change heralds the transformation of Biden’s campaign into an operation to support the current vice president’s candidacy, as Harris assumes control over its funds. As of the end of June, the campaign reported having $95 million.
Biden’s endorsement of Harris earlier Sunday paved the way for a relatively uncomplicated transfer of money, on the heels of weeks of chaos among Democrats. Because that money was raised for Harris, alongside Biden, the money may be used for her own campaign for the presidency. Other Democratic candidates could not use the money as their own, although the campaign could instead transfer it to the Democratic National Committee.
“The campaign account, though we think about it as Joe Biden’s campaign account, actually belongs to both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris,” Daniel Wiener, a lawyer with the Brennan Center and former FEC counsel, told POLITICO prior to Biden’s dropping out.
Biden’s decision to drop out set off a scramble in the party’s fundraising apparatus to support Harris. The campaign quickly moved to call for donations to Harris’ campaign.
One Democratic donor adviser was working to get a lawyer on the phone moments after Biden’s announcement to understand how the party’s fundraising apparatus could proceed legally — and to ascertain whether donors who maxed out giving to the Biden-Harris campaign could do so again under a new campaign configuration.
There is no comparable situation to Biden’s withdrawal since the advent of modern campaign finance law in the 1970s, but federal law states that: “Any campaign depository designated by the principal campaign committee of a political party’s candidate for President shall be the campaign depository for that political party’s candidate for the office of Vice President.” That opened the opportunity for Harris to take control of the campaign account.
Allies for Harris were rallying donors and preparing to support her, including by collecting donation pledges, even before Biden dropped out of the race. One women’s organization had already been working to ensure that messaging was ready to support Harris as a presidential contender.
Shortly after the announcement, Shekar Narasimhan, a Democratic donor who founded AAPI Victory Fund, said he was already texting other donors. He planned to start calling people Sunday night to ask for donations to Harris’ campaign or allied groups.
Even if Harris picks up all the existing funding in the campaign coffers, the election will require significantly more money, Narasimhan emphasized. Still, he said, Harris’ likely ability to inherit the campaign was reassuring, and he expected money to come in after Biden’s announcement — although questions around the ticket still remained.
“I do think the wallets open up,” he said. “And I think we’ll see significant movement in the next three days, but it simply depends upon are there other entrants, or is this a fait accompli?”
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