US Election 2024: How Harris and Trump are getting donations

Election campaigns are expensive. Kamala Harris and Donald Trump receive billions of campaign dollars. Most of the money comes from donations – but who are the donors?

Source: A.P

Both Harris and Trump need money to pay their staff, cover travel expenses, and continue advertising on TV and in newspapers. They need huge amount till the end.

Campaign finance expert Michael Kang tells ZDFheute that candidates can receive state funding for election campaign purposes, but the rules for this are undesirable because election campaigns are very expensive.

If presidential candidates opt for government campaign financing, the limit is currently more than $100 million, and they are not allowed to accept private donations. Congress said it was not profitable for the candidates due to high travel and advertising expenses of the candidates.

Hence, Political Action Committees (PACs) and Super Political Action Committees (Super PACs) play an important role in election campaigns. Since 2010, the Supreme Court has allowed the creation of PACs and super PACs, which allow corporations and wealthy individuals to spend large sums of money on political campaigns. There is no limit as long as donations are not made directly to a candidate.

The main difference between a PAC and a super PAC is that super PACs promise to use their money for their own purposes. However, they are not subject to any restrictions while collecting donations. A PAC can donate its money to candidates and parties, but is subject to restrictions.

The largest amount an individual donor can give directly to a candidate is currently more than $3,000.

But ordinary-income voters also seem to be playing an increasingly important role. In the hours and days after the Democratic convention ended, tens of thousands of small sums flowed into Democratic accounts. According to party members, many of them were donating for the first time.

Money is very important in election campaigns in the US, but it is not the only factor that determines the outcome of an election. In the 2016 election campaign, Hillary Clinton raised significantly more money than her rival, Donald Trump — and still lost.